Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital set a $44.00 target price on Miller Industries in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Miller Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Miller Industries from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Miller Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.50.

Miller Industries Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MLR stock opened at $44.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $506.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.40. Miller Industries has a 1 year low of $33.81 and a 1 year high of $48.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The auto parts company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.26. Miller Industries had a return on equity of 5.52% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm had revenue of $171.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.20 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Miller Industries will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Miller Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from Miller Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Miller Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.40%.

Institutional Trading of Miller Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Miller Industries by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,019 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Miller Industries by 4.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,624 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Miller Industries by 855.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 156,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,649,000 after purchasing an additional 140,500 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Miller Industries by 64.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 286,984 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,160,000 after purchasing an additional 112,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Miller Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.24% of the company’s stock.

About Miller Industries

Miller Industries, Inc is a leading designer, engineer and manufacturer of towing and recovery vehicles and related equipment. The company’s product portfolio includes light-, medium- and heavy-duty tow trucks, integrated carriers, rotators, wreckers, trailers and associated hydraulic and electronic components. These products are marketed under well-known brand names, including Miller, Century, Holmes, Vulcan, Chevron and Jige International, serving a broad spectrum of customers in the towing, recovery, roadside assistance and vehicle transport industries.

Headquartered in Ooltewah, Tennessee, Miller Industries was founded in the early 1990s and has grown into a global supplier of towing and recovery solutions.