Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 39,157 Shares of Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors trimmed its Powell Industries position by 10.8% in the first quarter, selling 39,157 shares and leaving it with 323,595 shares worth about $175.1 million.
• Insider selling has also been notable, including sales by major shareholder Thomas W. Powell and CEO Brett Alan Cope; insiders sold a combined 55,088 shares over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on POWL, with a consensus “Buy” rating, even as the stock fell 4.2% to $232.21 and the company reported quarterly EPS below expectations.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 39,157 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.89% of Powell Industries worth $175,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Powell Industries by 1,230,312.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 775,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $247,106,000 after buying an additional 775,097 shares in the last quarter. Summit Partners Public Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Powell Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,515,000. Rock Creek Group LP boosted its position in Powell Industries by 1,900.0% during the 4th quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 150,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,817,000 after acquiring an additional 142,500 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Powell Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,704,000. Finally, Voss Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 350,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $111,573,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Powell Industries

In other Powell Industries news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 33,958 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.49, for a total value of $10,000,291.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 564,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $166,309,104.64. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.55, for a total transaction of $1,072,482.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 517,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,937,631.15. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 55,088 shares of company stock worth $16,070,066 in the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on POWL. Weiss Ratings lowered Powell Industries from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Powell Industries from $160.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Glj Research raised Powell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Powell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $236.67.

Powell Industries Stock Down 4.2%

Powell Industries stock opened at $232.21 on Friday. Powell Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.00 and a twelve month high of $328.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.13. The stock's 50 day moving average is $270.49 and its 200 day moving average is $220.45.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.09). Powell Industries had a return on equity of 28.61% and a net margin of 16.51%.The company had revenue of $296.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $298.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Powell Industries's payout ratio is currently 7.05%.

Powell Industries Company Profile

Powell Industries, Inc is an industrial electrical engineering company specializing in the design, manufacture and integration of customized power control and distribution solutions. The firm's offerings range from medium‐voltage switchgear and power control centers to bus duct, motor control centers and specialty transformers. Powell also provides automation systems, protective relaying, metering, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platforms, and turnkey engineering services to help clients manage critical power infrastructure.

Serving the oil and gas, petrochemical, refining, utility, mining and industrial sectors, Powell's products are engineered to meet demanding performance, safety and reliability requirements.

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