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

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 516,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,501 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.42% of Powell Industries worth $279,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in POWL. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Powell Industries by 1,230,312.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 775,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $247,106,000 after acquiring an additional 775,097 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% in 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 period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 352,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Voss Capital LP raised its holdings 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 worth $111,573,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 348,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,102,000 after purchasing an additional 8,083 shares in the last quarter. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Powell Industries Stock Performance

POWL stock opened at $240.68 on Thursday. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.00 and a 1 year high of $328.00. The firm has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.49.

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

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Powell Industries

In related news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 33,958 shares of Powell Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.49, for a total transaction of $10,000,291.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 564,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $166,309,104.64. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.64, for a total transaction of $1,280,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,900 shares in the company, valued at $22,458,096. This represents a 5.40% 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 quarter, insiders sold 55,088 shares of company stock valued at $16,070,066. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.