Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Miller Industries from “strong buy” to “buy.” Despite other mixed analyst actions, the stock has a consensus “hold” rating and a $54.00 price target.
• Miller Industries reported quarterly earnings of $0.63 per share, beating estimates of $0.36, while revenue of $239.99 million exceeded the $210.80 million consensus forecast.
• The stock opened at $51.43, down 1.6%, with a market capitalization of approximately $583.7 million. Institutional investors own 79.24% of the company’s shares.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Miller Industries from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Miller Industries in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Miller Industries from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Miller Industries Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE:MLR opened at $51.43 on Friday. Miller Industries has a 52 week low of $35.72 and a 52 week high of $59.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $583.73 million, a PE ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $54.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.00.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The auto parts company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $239.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.80 million. Miller Industries had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 1.86%. Sell-side analysts expect that Miller Industries will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Miller Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Miller Industries by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 46,565 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 25,785 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,985,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Miller Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,466,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,187,000. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Miller Industries by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,477 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $5,032,000 after buying an additional 29,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.24% of the company's stock.

About Miller Industries

Miller Industries, Inc designs, manufactures and sells towing and recovery equipment. Its product portfolio includes light-, medium- and heavy-duty tow trucks, vehicle carriers, wreckers, rotators, underlift systems and related equipment used to recover, transport and service disabled vehicles.

The company markets products under brands including Century, Vulcan, Chevron, Holmes and Champion. It also provides replacement parts and related support for its equipment. Miller Industries sells through a network of distributors and dealers to towing operators, transportation companies, government agencies and other commercial customers.

Headquartered in Ooltewah, Tennessee, Miller Industries serves customers in North America and international markets.

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