Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $593.76 and last traded at $580.0250, with a volume of 15537 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $584.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

POWL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Powell Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Powell Industries in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Powell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Powell Industries from $427.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.50.

Powell Industries Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $390.94 and its 200 day moving average is $332.86.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $251.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.34 million. Powell Industries had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 16.82%.Powell Industries’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Powell Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Powell Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Powell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Powell Industries news, VP William Marshall Mauney, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.73, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,530.23. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of POWL. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Powell Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Powell Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Powell Industries during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Powell Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Powell Industries by 12,800.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Powell Industries Company Profile

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.