Ellsworth Advisors LLC Makes New $978,000 Investment in Miller Industries, Inc. $MLR

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Miller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,591 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $978,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Miller Industries at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Miller Industries by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 46,565 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 25,785 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Miller Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,985,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Miller Industries during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,466,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Miller Industries by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,477 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,032,000 after buying an additional 29,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,187,000. 79.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MLR. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Miller Industries from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Miller Industries in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Miller Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Miller Industries from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Miller Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLR opened at $51.30 on Friday. Miller Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.72 and a fifty-two week high of $59.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $582.25 million, a P/E ratio of 41.37 and a beta of 1.12.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The auto parts company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $239.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.80 million. Miller Industries had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 1.86%. As a group, research analysts expect that Miller Industries, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Miller Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Miller Industries’s payout ratio is 67.74%.

About Miller Industries

Miller Industries, Inc designs, manufactures and sells towing and recovery equipment for commercial, municipal, transportation and emergency-service customers. Its product portfolio includes light-, medium- and heavy-duty wreckers; car carriers and transporters; rotator recovery units; and specialized equipment used to recover, move and transport disabled or damaged vehicles.

The company markets products under several established brands, including Century, Vulcan, Holmes, Challenger and Champion.