Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Powell Industries by 159.1% during Q2, owning 12,434 shares valued at approximately $2.6 million.
• Director John Birchall and EVP Michael William Metcalf both sold significant portions of their holdings, with Birchall's sale representing a 30.93% decrease and Metcalf's a 11.07% decrease in their respective positions.
• Powell Industries received an upgraded rating from Weiss Ratings, moving from "hold" to "buy," with an average price target of $312.00 as the consensus rating for the stock.

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Free Report) by 159.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,635 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Powell Industries worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 2.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,926 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 168.8% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 25,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,337,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,337 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Powell Industries

In other news, Director John Birchall sold 3,000 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.03, for a total value of $780,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,201. This trade represents a 30.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 3,200 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.74, for a total value of $955,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,677,618. The trade was a 11.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Powell Industries from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $312.00.

Powell Industries Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of POWL opened at $317.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $280.75 and a 200-day moving average of $223.17. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.02 and a 52 week high of $364.98.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $286.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.69 million. Powell Industries had a return on equity of 33.16% and a net margin of 16.22%.The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Powell Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.2675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Powell Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.43%.

About Powell Industries

Powell Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services custom-engineered equipment and systems. The company's principal products include integrated power control room substations, custom-engineered modules, electrical houses, medium-voltage circuit breakers, monitoring and control communications systems, motor control centers, switches, and bus duct systems, as well as traditional and arc-resistant distribution switchgears and control gears.

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