Hodges Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,657 shares during the period. Powell Industries makes up about 1.4% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Powell Industries were worth $16,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 28,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,110,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 254,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,137,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 29,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,558,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 30,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,579,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.77% of the company’s stock.

Powell Industries Price Performance

POWL opened at $262.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $261.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.71. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.70 and a 1 year high of $328.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 51.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.11.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.09). Powell Industries had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 28.61%. The company had revenue of $296.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.81 EPS. Powell Industries’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Powell Industries’s payout ratio is 7.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on POWL. Wall Street Zen lowered Powell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Powell Industries from $160.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Powell Industries from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Powell Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Powell Industries has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Powell Industries news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 149,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.41, for a total value of $25,000,004.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,796,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,682,087.62. This trade represents a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $1,336,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 490,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,524,013. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 174,964 shares of company stock valued at $31,339,200. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.