Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 3,300 Shares of Heico Corporation $HEI

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its holdings in Heico Corporation by 11.2%, selling 3,300 shares and now owning a total of 26,052 shares valued at approximately $6.96 million.
• Heico recently reported earnings of $1.26 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 15.7% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• The company has increased its semi-annual dividend from $0.11 to $0.12 per share, indicating a growing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of Heico Corporation (NYSE:HEI - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,052 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Heico were worth $6,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its stake in Heico by 92.0% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 96 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Heico by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,822 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Heico by 0.5% in the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 14,438 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,841,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heico by 1.1% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,586 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,760,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Heico by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 27.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heico Price Performance

Shares of HEI traded up $2.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $314.83. The company had a trading volume of 173,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,466. The company has a market capitalization of $43.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 3.35. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $318.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.95. Heico Corporation has a 1-year low of $216.68 and a 1-year high of $338.92.

Heico (NYSE:HEI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 25th. The aerospace company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.14. Heico had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Heico Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Heico Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from Heico's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 10.0%. Heico's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heico news, Chairman Laurans A. Mendelson sold 56,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.45, for a total value of $17,985,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,253,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,311,420.15. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HEI. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $382.00 price objective (up from $337.00) on shares of Heico in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Heico from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heico to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Heico from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Heico from $346.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heico currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $342.00.

Heico Company Profile

HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells aerospace, defense, and electronic related products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Flight Support Group segment provides jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts; thermal insulation blankets and parts; renewable/reusable insulation systems; and specialty components.