Westpac Banking Corp Cuts Stake in Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp decreased its stake in Cummins Inc. by 5.5%, selling 770 shares and holding a total of 13,276 shares valued at $4.16 million according to its latest SEC filing.
• Cummins Inc. reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with earnings per share (EPS) of $6.43, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $5.21.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $2.00 per share, reflecting a positive adjustment from the previous dividend of $1.82.

Westpac Banking Corp decreased its stake in Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,276 shares of the company's stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Cummins were worth $4,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cummins by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,283,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,417,331,000 after purchasing an additional 321,823 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Cummins by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,883,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,418,000 after buying an additional 246,807 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Cummins by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,626,093 shares of the company's stock worth $566,856,000 after acquiring an additional 99,009 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Cummins by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,585,802 shares of the company's stock worth $552,820,000 after acquiring an additional 12,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Cummins by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,271,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,169,000 after acquiring an additional 44,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cummins

In related news, CFO Mark Andrew Smith sold 6,500 shares of the firm'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 value of $2,632,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,790,710. This trade represents a 17.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Luther E. Peters sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $389.19, for a total value of $1,887,571.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 7,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,038.67. The trade was a 38.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,870 shares of company stock valued at $7,091,899 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cummins Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE CMI traded down $6.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $398.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 701,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,442. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $346.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.72. Cummins Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.02 and a twelve month high of $408.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.02.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.21 by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $8.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.45 billion. Cummins had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 26.96%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cummins Inc. will post 22.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cummins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Cummins's previous quarterly dividend of $1.82. Cummins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cummins from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Cummins from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $410.00 to $431.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Cummins from $451.00 to $419.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cummins from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Cummins from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cummins presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $370.83.

Cummins 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.