Verition Fund Management LLC Grows Position in Cummins Inc. $CMI

Key Points

• Verition Fund Management increased its Cummins stake by 242.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 53,797 shares valued at about $27.5 million.
• Several analysts turned more bullish on CMI, with recent price targets raised as high as $794 and the stock carrying a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Cummins reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates with $6.15 per share on revenue of $8.40 billion, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.00 per share.

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI - Free Report) by 242.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,797 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 38,097 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Cummins were worth $27,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cummins in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Cummins by 537.5% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 51 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cummins during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Cummins in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cummins in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMI shares. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Cummins from $675.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $700.00 price target on Cummins in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cummins from $675.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cummins from $693.00 to $794.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Cummins from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cummins currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $726.14.

Cummins Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:CMI opened at $659.77 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $91.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. Cummins Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.90 and a fifty-two week high of $718.08. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $648.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $583.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $6.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.37 billion. Cummins had a return on equity of 25.25% and a net margin of 7.89%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cummins Inc. will post 29.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Cummins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Cummins's dividend payout ratio is 41.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Marvin Boakye sold 3,481 shares of Cummins stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $679.90, for a total transaction of $2,366,731.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,784,589.20. This trade represents a 29.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Nicole Lamb-Hale sold 2,408 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.34, for a total value of $1,650,298.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 14,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,652,328.56. This represents a 14.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,579 shares of company stock worth $9,377,684. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Cummins Profile

Cummins Inc NYSE: CMI is a global power technology company that designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of diesel and natural gas engines, electrified powertrains, power generation systems and related components. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins has grown into one of the world's leading suppliers of internal combustion engines and a provider of technologies that reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

The company's product lineup includes heavy-, medium- and light-duty engines for on-highway and off-highway applications, generator sets and power systems for commercial and industrial use, and key engine components such as turbochargers, fuel systems, air handling, filtration and aftertreatment solutions.

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