ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) Short Interest Up 6.4% in September

ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 608,900 shares, a growth of 6.4% from the August 31st total of 572,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 375,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ITT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ITT. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of ITT in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in ITT by 788.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in ITT during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in ITT during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in ITT by 71.4% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 348 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

ITT Price Performance

ITT traded down $2.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.01. 35,327 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 380,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.68. ITT has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $152.21.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $905.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $916.38 million. ITT had a net margin of 12.47% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ITT will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ITT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.319 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. ITT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ITT from $150.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of ITT from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on ITT from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.00.

About ITT

ITT Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets in the United States and internationally. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains.