Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Position in ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 659 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in ITT were worth $4,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ITT in the 4th quarter worth $73,762,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in ITT during the fourth quarter worth about $19,345,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ITT by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 198,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $28,369,000 after purchasing an additional 50,384 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of ITT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,075,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ITT by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 111,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,596,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of ITT from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp increased their price target on ITT from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded ITT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ITT in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on ITT from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ITT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.38.

ITT Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ITT opened at $134.83 on Monday. ITT Inc. has a one year low of $121.01 and a one year high of $161.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.42.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.02. ITT had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ITT Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ITT Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.351 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from ITT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. ITT’s dividend payout ratio is 22.22%.

About ITT

ITT Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets in the United States and internationally. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains.