Short Interest in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) Rises By 6.3%

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,410,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the March 31st total of 6,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 2,413 shares of Emerson Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.18, for a total transaction of $248,973.34. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,599.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tobam grew its position in Emerson Electric by 2,275.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Emerson Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Emerson Electric by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Emerson Electric in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Emerson Electric Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EMR traded down $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $106.06. 470,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,604,552. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.56. Emerson Electric has a 1-year low of $76.94 and a 1-year high of $115.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $60.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.36.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.91 billion. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 69.33% and a return on equity of 11.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Emerson Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMR has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Emerson Electric from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.25.

Emerson Electric Company Profile

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.