Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Emerson Electric Co. $EMR

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Emerson Electric Co. by 17.5%, selling 9,335 shares and holding 43,933 shares valued at approximately $4.82 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Emerson Electric reported $1.52 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue reached $4.55 billion, slightly below estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5275, with an annualized payout of $2.11 representing a 1.6% dividend yield.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR - Free Report) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,335 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $4,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the 1st quarter worth about $3,388,000. Mirova boosted its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirova now owns 27,173 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,979,000 after acquiring an additional 8,192 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 3,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Emerson Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $311,000. 74.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMR. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Emerson Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen raised shares of Emerson Electric to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Emerson Electric from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $125.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.39.

Emerson Electric Price Performance

EMR stock traded down $2.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,345,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,662,412. The stock has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.06 and a fifty-two week high of $150.27. The company's 50 day moving average is $137.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.11.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 14.34%. Emerson Electric's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.5275 per share. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Emerson Electric's payout ratio is presently 45.38%.

Emerson Electric Profile

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.