Park-Ohio (NASDAQ:PKOH) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:PKOH) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $43.50, but opened at $50.00. Park-Ohio shares last traded at $43.04, with a volume of 7,413 shares.

The industrial products company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $458.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $432.13 million. Park-Ohio had a return on equity of 10.55% and a net margin of 1.60%.

Park-Ohio Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Park-Ohio’s payout ratio is presently 26.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PKOH. Zacks Research cut shares of Park-Ohio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Park-Ohio from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Park-Ohio from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Park-Ohio from $45.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Park-Ohio presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert Vilsack sold 3,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.42, for a total transaction of $148,079.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 144,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,685,594.08. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James Wert sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.50, for a total transaction of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 85,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,059,160. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,330 shares of company stock valued at $2,438,390. Insiders own 31.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Park-Ohio

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKOH. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Park-Ohio in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Park-Ohio by 4.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Park-Ohio during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Park-Ohio during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Park-Ohio by 25.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.38% of the company’s stock.

Park-Ohio Trading Down 1.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.21. The company has a market capitalization of $622.42 million, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.34.

About Park-Ohio

Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: PKOH) is a diversified manufacturing and supply-chain management company serving original equipment manufacturers and other industrial customers. Through its operating businesses, the company provides engineered products, component manufacturing, and integrated supply-chain services.

Park-Ohio’s manufacturing activities include the production of forged, machined, stamped, molded, and assembled components, as well as specialized products made from metal, rubber, and other materials.