Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on POWL. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Powell Industries in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Powell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Powell Industries from $427.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Powell Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.50.

Powell Industries Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $381.14 and a 200-day moving average of $328.33. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.85.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $3.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $251.18 million during 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%.The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 13.71 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders 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%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Powell Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Powell Industries’s payout ratio is 6.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP William Marshall Mauney, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 4,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,476,530.23. This represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Powell Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Powell Industries by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,314,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $705,475,000 after acquiring an additional 686,588 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Powell Industries by 1,230,312.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 775,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,106,000 after purchasing an additional 775,097 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 706,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Powell Industries by 65.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 615,067 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $187,479,000 after purchasing an additional 244,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 352,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. 89.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.