Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Powell Industries has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with seven firms covering the stock and an average 12-month price target of $236.67.
• Recent earnings were mixed: the company reported $1.25 EPS, below estimates of $1.34, while revenue of $296.62 million was slightly under expectations but still up 6.5% year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, including sales by the CEO and a vice president, with 174,964 shares sold by insiders over the last 90 days; meanwhile, institutional investors own 89.77% of the stock.

Shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $236.6667.

Several research analysts have commented on POWL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Powell Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Powell Industries from $160.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Powell Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Powell Industries from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th.

Insider Activity at Powell Industries

In other news, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.96, for a total transaction of $1,038,782.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 164,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,568,539.96. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP William Marshall Mauney, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.69, for a total transaction of $809,225.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 10,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,513,007.57. This trade represents a 18.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 174,964 shares of company stock valued at $31,339,200. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Powell Industries by 281.6% during the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 53,170 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,207,000 after acquiring an additional 39,238 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Powell Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $693,000. Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Powell Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $1,280,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Powell Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $3,098,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Powell Industries by 23.6% in the third quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 224,507 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,434,000 after buying an additional 42,802 shares during the period. 89.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Powell Industries Price Performance

Shares of POWL opened at $294.75 on Friday. Powell Industries has a one year low of $56.70 and a one year high of $328.00. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.84.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.09). Powell Industries had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 28.61%. The firm had revenue of $296.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Powell Industries will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Powell Industries's dividend payout ratio is 7.05%.

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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