Sandler Capital Management Lowers Stake in Cummins Inc. $CMI

Key Points

• Sandler Capital Management reduced its stake in Cummins Inc. by 90.5%, holding only 1,941 shares valued at $608,000 after selling 18,567 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have shown confidence in Cummins, with target price increases from several firms, including Goldman Sachs raising its price target from $410 to $431 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Cummins recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $2.00 per share, up from $1.82, reflecting a strong dividend yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 37.61%.

Sandler Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI - Free Report) by 90.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,941 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,567 shares during the period. Sandler Capital Management's holdings in Cummins were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Cummins during the first quarter worth $2,749,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC acquired a new position in Cummins during the first quarter worth $440,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Cummins by 8.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,666 shares of the company's stock worth $4,283,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Cummins by 11.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,215,956 shares of the company's stock worth $381,129,000 after buying an additional 126,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Cummins by 19.1% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 7,747 shares of the company's stock worth $2,428,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. 83.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cummins Stock Performance

CMI traded down $2.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $394.83. The company had a trading volume of 514,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,450. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $54.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.02. Cummins Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.02 and a 12-month high of $408.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $373.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $336.29.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.21 by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $8.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.45 billion. Cummins had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 26.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cummins Inc. will post 22.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cummins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cummins's previous quarterly dividend of $1.82. Cummins's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CMI. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cummins from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cummins from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Melius Research raised Cummins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cummins to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Cummins from $342.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cummins has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $389.29.

Insider Activity at Cummins

In related news, CFO Mark Andrew Smith sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total transaction of $2,632,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,790,710. This represents a 17.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen H. Quintos sold 1,307 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.33, for a total transaction of $529,766.31. Following the sale, the director owned 5,227 shares in the company, valued at $2,118,659.91. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,039 shares of company stock worth $10,385,075 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Cummins Company Profile

Cummins Inc designs, manufactures, distributes, and services diesel and natural gas engines, electric and hybrid powertrains, and related components worldwide. It operates through five segments: Engine, Distribution, Components, Power Systems, and Accelera. The company offers diesel and natural gas-powered engines under the Cummins and other customer brands for the heavy and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, construction, mining, marine, rail, oil and gas, defense, and agricultural markets; and offers parts and services, as well as remanufactured parts and engines.