Enpro (NYSE:NPO) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Enpro (NYSE:NPO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on NPO. KeyCorp increased their price target on Enpro from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Enpro from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday.

Enpro Price Performance

NPO opened at $175.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.57. Enpro has a fifty-two week low of $136.68 and a fifty-two week high of $197.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.43 and a beta of 1.49.

Enpro (NYSE:NPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.13). Enpro had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $260.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enpro will post 6.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Enpro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Enpro’s payout ratio is 46.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven R. Bower sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total value of $48,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,125. This represents a 69.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Enpro

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Enpro in the second quarter worth $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Enpro by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Enpro by 357.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Enpro in the third quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Enpro by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 98.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Enpro

Enpro Inc design, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary, value-added products and solutions to safeguard critical environments in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Sealing Technologies and Advanced Surface Technologies. The Sealing Technologies segment offers single-use hygienic seals, tubing, components and assemblies; metallic, non-metallic, and composite material gaskets; dynamic seals; compression packing; hydraulic components; expansion joints; and wall penetration products for chemical and petrochemical processing, pulp and paper processing, nuclear energy, hydrogen, natural gas, food and biopharmaceutical processing, primary metal manufacturing, mining, water and waste treatment, commercial vehicle, aerospace, medical, filtration, and semiconductor fabrication industries.