Virtus Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 8,757 Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL

Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,508,000. Powell Industries accounts for approximately 1.0% of Virtus Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in POWL. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Powell Industries by 1.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,251,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Powell Industries by 7.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Powell Industries by 1,221.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Powell Industries by 4.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 28,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,841,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Powell Industries by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,548,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.77% of the company’s stock.

Powell Industries Stock Performance

POWL opened at $197.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $241.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.66. The company has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.18. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.27 and a 1 year high of $328.00.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.07). Powell Industries had a net margin of 16.49% and a return on equity of 27.51%. The business had revenue of $311.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Powell Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Powell Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.91%.

Insider Activity at Powell Industries

In related news, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.55, for a total value of $1,072,482.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 517,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,937,631.15. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.64, for a total value of $1,280,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 78,900 shares in the company, valued at $22,458,096. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,898 shares of company stock worth $12,353,653. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

POWL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Powell Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Powell Industries from $320.00 to $235.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Powell Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Glj Research raised shares of Powell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.42.

About Powell Industries

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.