Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Stake in Miller Industries, Inc. $MLR

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Miller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLR) by 1,842.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,709 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Miller Industries were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Miller Industries by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 443,468 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,790,000 after purchasing an additional 88,365 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Miller Industries by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 286,984 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,160,000 after purchasing an additional 112,925 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Miller Industries by 855.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 156,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,649,000 after purchasing an additional 140,500 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Miller Industries by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 121,499 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,148,000 after purchasing an additional 20,273 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Miller Industries by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,733 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,819,000 after purchasing an additional 20,191 shares during the period. 79.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Miller Industries from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Miller Industries in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Miller Industries to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.00.

Miller Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLR opened at $39.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.89 million, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.24. Miller Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.81 and a fifty-two week high of $78.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 3.32.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The auto parts company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $214.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.95 million. Miller Industries had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 4.35%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Miller Industries, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Miller Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Miller Industries’s payout ratio is 21.86%.

Miller Industries Profile

Miller Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells towing and recovery equipment. The company offers wreckers that are used to recover and tow disabled vehicles and other equipment; and car carriers, which are specialized flat-bed vehicles with hydraulic tilt mechanisms, which are used to transport new or disabled vehicles and other equipment.