Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday, August 2nd.
According to Zacks, “ITT Inc. has a robust earnings surprise history, having beaten estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters. Also, the company’s current year estimates have moved north over the past couple of months. The company’s bottom line is expected to benefit from improved operating efficiency and successful cost containment actions. Further, ITT Inc.’s shares have outperformed the industry average over the past year. ITT Inc. has achieved operational excellence through its Lean Six Sigma program. However, on the flip side, softness in industrial, oil & gas markets and aerospace and defense business is expected to affect client spending adversely, thus restricting the company’s growth to a great extent. Also, sluggish aerospace and defense business, long cycle defense platform dynamics, and increasing pricing pressures, are adding to the company’s woes. might add to the company’s woes.”
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ITT. BidaskClub raised ITT from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. ValuEngine raised ITT from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) cut ITT from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on ITT from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $46.57.
ITT (ITT) traded down 0.07% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.31. The stock had a trading volume of 138,446 shares. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.92 and its 200-day moving average is $40.52. ITT has a 52 week low of $32.46 and a 52 week high of $44.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.47.
ITT (NYSE:ITT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The conglomerate reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. ITT had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 8.64%. The company had revenue of $630.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. ITT’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that ITT will post $2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.128 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. ITT’s payout ratio is 21.70%.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ITT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of ITT by 32.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 554,419 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $22,743,000 after buying an additional 137,337 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in ITT by 4.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its position in ITT by 0.5% in the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 25,349 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Cubic Asset Management LLC raised its position in ITT by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cubic Asset Management LLC now owns 44,837 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in ITT during the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.19% of the company’s stock.
ITT Company Profile
ITT Corporation (ITT) is a diversified manufacturer of engineered critical components and technology solutions for industrial markets. The Company’s product and service offerings are organized in four segments: Industrial Process, Motion Technologies, Interconnect Solutions and Control Technologies. Industrial Process manufactures engineered fluid process equipment, and is a provider of plant optimization, solutions and aftermarket services and parts.
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