Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,424 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Powell Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Powell Industries by 121.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC acquired a new position in Powell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $161,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Powell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $192,000. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Powell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. 89.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Powell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th.

Powell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of POWL opened at $153.95 on Friday. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.78 and a 52 week high of $209.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.58.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.86. Powell Industries had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 27.93%. The firm had revenue of $255.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Powell Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Powell Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Powell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Powell Industries news, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.52, for a total transaction of $913,616.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,891,248. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 5,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.52, for a total transaction of $913,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,248. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.87, for a total transaction of $4,117,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,668,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,520,446.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,900 shares of company stock worth $6,080,681 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.20% 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.