Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 67,590 Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 67,590 Powell Industries shares worth approximately $19.4 million, joining other institutional investors; funds and institutions collectively own 89.77% of the stock.
• Powell’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $1.42 versus $1.49 forecast and revenue of $311.74 million versus $316.70 million expected, despite 8.9% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $215.42 target price, while insiders sold roughly $12.4 million of shares over the past three months.

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 67,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $19,355,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.19% of Powell Industries at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Powell Industries during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,704,000. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Powell Industries in the second quarter valued at about $14,158,000. Voss Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 350,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $111,573,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 254,520 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $81,137,000 after purchasing an additional 30,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Powell Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $1,409,000. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 33,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.49, for a total transaction of $10,000,291.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 564,736 shares in the company, valued at $166,309,104.64. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.55, for a total transaction of $1,072,482.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 517,233 shares in the company, valued at $124,937,631.15. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 42,898 shares of company stock worth $12,353,653 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on POWL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Powell Industries from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Powell Industries from $320.00 to $235.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Powell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Glj Research raised shares of Powell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.42.

Powell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of Powell Industries stock opened at $182.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.11. Powell Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.85 and a fifty-two week high of $328.00. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.18.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $311.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.70 million. Powell Industries had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 27.51%. Powell Industries's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Powell Industries's payout ratio is 6.91%.

About Powell Industries

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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