Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in IES Holdings, Inc. $IESC

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in IES Holdings, Inc. by 7.0%, selling 5,705 shares and holding a total of 75,752 shares valued at approximately $12.5 million.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded IES from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the company's stock.
• IES reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $3.95, exceeding estimates, and revenue of $890.20 million, which also surpassed expectations.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of IES Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,752 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,705 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.38% of IES worth $12,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of IES in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in IES by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 507 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in IES by 162.5% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. City State Bank lifted its position in shares of IES by 127.6% in the first quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,195 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of IES by 22.7% in the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IES news, Chairman Jeffrey L. Et Al Gendell sold 35,852 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.10, for a total transaction of $13,017,861.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 10,856,528 shares in the company, valued at $3,942,005,316.80. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 98,656 shares of company stock worth $32,263,523 in the last ninety days. 56.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

IES Trading Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:IESC traded down $13.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $349.31. The stock had a trading volume of 188,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,378. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $324.64 and a 200 day moving average of $251.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 1.67. IES Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $140.89 and a one year high of $370.88.

IES (NASDAQ:IESC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The technology company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $890.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.00 million. IES had a return on equity of 37.23% and a net margin of 8.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded IES from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th.

IES Company Profile

IES Holdings, Inc engages in the design and installation of integrated electrical and technology systems, and provides infrastructure products and services in the United States. The Communications segment designs, installs, and maintains network infrastructure within data centers for co-location and managed hosting customers; corporate, educational, financial, hospitality, and healthcare buildings; e-commerce distribution centers; and high-tech manufacturing facilities.