Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate Powell a "Buy" — six analysts give an average "Buy" rating with a 12-month consensus price target of $142.33, while the stock is trading much higher (opened at $252.76, 12‑month high $258.42), indicating a large premium to analyst targets.
• Powell beat on quarterly earnings with $1.13 EPS vs. $0.95 expected, posted revenue of $251.18M (slightly below estimates), and showed strong profitability (ROE 30.64% and net margin 16.82%).
• Significant insider selling occurred recently — insiders sold about 248,688 shares worth ~$44.5M over the last quarter, with corporate insiders now owning roughly 2.20% of the stock.

Shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $142.3333.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on POWL. Glj Research began coverage on Powell Industries in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Powell Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Powell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Powell Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Powell Industries from $142.33 to $160.33 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Powell Industries Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:POWL opened at $252.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.74. Powell Industries has a 12-month low of $54.75 and a 12-month high of $258.42.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $251.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.34 million. Powell Industries had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 16.82%.Powell Industries's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Powell Industries will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Powell Industries's payout ratio is 7.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Powell Industries news, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 9,000 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.00, for a total transaction of $1,584,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,678,400. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 149,334 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.41, for a total value of $25,000,004.94. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,796,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $300,682,087.62. This trade represents a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 248,688 shares of company stock valued at $44,535,053 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Powell Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new stake in Powell Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $365,000. EWA LLC purchased a new stake in Powell Industries during the 1st quarter worth about $253,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Powell Industries during the first quarter worth about $711,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Powell Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,273,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Powell Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $434,000. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Powell Industries

Powell Industries, Inc is an industrial electrical engineering company specializing in the design, manufacture and integration of customized power control and distribution solutions. The firm's offerings range from medium‐voltage switchgear and power control centers to bus duct, motor control centers and specialty transformers. Powell also provides automation systems, protective relaying, metering, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platforms, and turnkey engineering services to help clients manage critical power infrastructure.

Serving the oil and gas, petrochemical, refining, utility, mining and industrial sectors, Powell's products are engineered to meet demanding performance, safety and reliability requirements.

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