First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Powell Industries, Inc. $POWL

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 516,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,501 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Powell Industries were worth $279,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in POWL. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Powell Industries during the 4th quarter worth $20,704,000. Voss Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 350,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,573,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Powell Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,137,000. Rock Creek Group LP lifted its position in shares of Powell Industries by 1,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 150,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,817,000 after purchasing an additional 142,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Powell Industries by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 35,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Powell Industries

In related news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 33,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.49, for a total transaction of $10,000,291.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 564,736 shares in the company, valued at $166,309,104.64. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.64, for a total value of $1,280,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,458,096. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months, insiders sold 55,088 shares of company stock worth $16,070,066. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

POWL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Powell Industries from $160.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Powell Industries from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Powell Industries from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Glj Research upgraded Powell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Texas Capital raised Powell Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.67.

Powell Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ POWL opened at $240.68 on Thursday. Powell Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $69.00 and a one year high of $328.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of 47.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.09). Powell Industries had a return on equity of 28.61% and a net margin of 16.51%.The business had revenue of $296.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.81 EPS. Powell Industries’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

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

Powell Industries 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.