Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on ITT (NYSE:ITT)

Key Points

• Unusual bearish options activity: Traders bought 2,401 put options on ITT, about 261% above the typical volume of 666 puts, signaling elevated bearish or hedging interest.
• Insiders sold shares: Two ITT insiders, including CAO Cheryl De Mesa Graziano and Lori B. Marino, recently sold stock, with Marino’s sale being the larger one at more than 7,100 shares.
• Fundamentals remain solid: ITT beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, raised outlook, and analysts still lean bullish with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $234.91.

ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 2,401 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 261% compared to the typical volume of 666 put options.

Insider Transactions at ITT

In other ITT news, CAO Mesa Graziano Cheryl De sold 200 shares of ITT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $41,682.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,637,894.19. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lori B. Marino sold 7,123 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.27, for a total value of $1,483,507.21. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,988.83. The trade was a 44.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Andina Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ITT by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of ITT by 2.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of ITT by 5.1% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,064 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of ITT by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,481 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of ITT by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,654 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ITT. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ITT from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $246.00 price objective on shares of ITT in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of ITT from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $246.00 target price on shares of ITT in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of ITT from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.91.

ITT Price Performance

Shares of ITT stock traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $189.34. The stock had a trading volume of 118,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,362. ITT has a 12-month low of $154.29 and a 12-month high of $225.26. The company has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

ITT (NYSE:ITT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. ITT had a return on equity of 16.83% and a net margin of 10.80%.The business's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. ITT has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.700-8.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ITT will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

ITT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.386 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. ITT's dividend payout ratio is 27.16%.

About ITT

ITT Inc is a diversified industrial manufacturing company that designs, manufactures and services mission-critical components and systems for global markets. Its engineered solutions support applications in aerospace, defense, transportation, energy and industrial automation. The company focuses on delivering high-performance products that enable reliable fluid handling, precision motion control and robust connectivity in demanding environments.

The company's operations are organized into three segments: Motion Technologies, which provides precision components and aftermarket repair services for aircraft engines and industrial turbines; Connect & Control Technologies, which offers specialty valves, couplings, seals and proximity sensors for fuel, hydraulics and environmental control systems; and Fluid & Motion Control, which delivers pumps, heat exchangers and fluid management solutions for oil and gas, chemical processing and power generation.

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