Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Holdings in Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Powell Industries worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of POWL. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Powell Industries by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Powell Industries by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 18,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,167,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Powell Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 89.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on POWL shares. Roth Mkm began coverage on Powell Industries in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $312.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Powell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Powell Industries to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Powell Industries Price Performance

Shares of POWL stock opened at $164.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.27. Powell Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.00 and a 1-year high of $364.98. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.83.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.03. Powell Industries had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 35.48%. Analysts anticipate that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Powell Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.2675 dividend. This represents a $1.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Powell Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Powell Industries’s payout ratio is presently 8.12%.

About Powell Industries

Powell Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services custom-engineered equipment and systems. The company’s principal products include integrated power control room substations, custom-engineered modules, electrical houses, medium-voltage circuit breakers, monitoring and control communications systems, motor control centers, switches, and bus duct systems, as well as traditional and arc-resistant distribution switchgears and control gears.