Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) Short Interest Up 36.4% in March

Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 36.4% from the March 15th total of 850,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 340,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 12.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Powell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Powell Industries Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:POWL traded down $3.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $125.95. 212,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 362,061. The business's fifty day moving average is $149.61 and its 200-day moving average is $107.11. Powell Industries has a 52-week low of $38.91 and a 52-week high of $197.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.79.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.98. Powell Industries had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $194.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 53.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Powell Industries will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Powell Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.262 per share. This represents a $1.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Powell Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Powell Industries

In other news, Director Christopher E. Cragg sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.13, for a total value of $1,396,170.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,917,406.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher E. Cragg sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.13, for a total value of $1,396,170.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,917,406.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 5,000 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.38, for a total transaction of $871,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,688,628 shares in the company, valued at $294,462,950.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $4,850,830 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Powell Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 14,102 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 639,251 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,510,000 after purchasing an additional 45,342 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 177,565 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,697,000 after purchasing an additional 21,321 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Powell Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Powell Industries in the 4th quarter worth approximately $429,000. Institutional investors own 89.77% of the company's stock.

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.