Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Powell Industries by 44.5% in the first quarter, ending with 65,051 shares valued at about $35.2 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $236.67, though recent ratings have been mixed.
• Powell Industries reported Q4 EPS of $1.25, missing expectations, while revenue came in slightly below estimates at $296.62 million; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Free Report) by 44.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,025 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.18% of Powell Industries worth $35,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Powell Industries by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Powell Industries by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Powell Industries by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 1,380 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on POWL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Powell Industries from $160.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Texas Capital raised Powell Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Glj Research upgraded Powell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Powell Industries from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Powell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $236.67.

Powell Industries Price Performance

POWL stock opened at $232.79 on Friday. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.00 and a 1 year high of $328.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.00.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $296.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $298.12 million. Powell Industries had a return on equity of 28.61% and a net margin of 16.51%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.81 EPS. On average, equities research 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 issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Powell Industries's payout ratio is currently 7.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.64, for a total value of $1,280,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 78,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,458,096. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard E. Williams sold 5,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.19, for a total transaction of $1,570,747.50. Following the sale, the director owned 39,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,856,899.70. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,088 shares of company stock worth $16,070,066. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Powell Industries 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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