Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $143.00, but opened at $183.00. Powell Industries shares last traded at $177.32, with a volume of 323,899 shares changing hands.

The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.86. Powell Industries had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 28.91%. The business had revenue of $255.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Powell Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Powell Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Powell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Powell Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.36, for a total transaction of $908,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 714,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,168,364.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Powell Industries news, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.38, for a total transaction of $871,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,688,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $294,462,950.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Thomas W. Powell sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.36, for a total transaction of $908,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 714,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,168,364.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $4,850,830. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Powell Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of POWL. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Powell Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Powell Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,000,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Powell Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $450,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Powell Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Powell Industries by 164.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 7,098 shares in the last quarter. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Powell Industries Stock Down 5.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $148.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.79.

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.