Balefire LLC Decreases Stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Balefire LLC lessened its stake in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 72.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,802 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Emerson Electric by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,536,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,634,837,000 after acquiring an additional 384,313 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,685,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,443,725,000 after purchasing an additional 232,540 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $885,886,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Emerson Electric by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,676,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $827,377,000 after buying an additional 370,560 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Emerson Electric by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,376,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $542,379,000 after buying an additional 171,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:EMR opened at $129.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.28. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.06 and a fifty-two week high of $134.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.20.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.60% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.5275 per share. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Emerson Electric’s payout ratio is 50.48%.

Insider Activity at Emerson Electric

In related news, CEO Surendralal Lanca Karsanbhai sold 16,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total transaction of $1,892,384.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 164,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,694,576.81. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on EMR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Emerson Electric from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Emerson Electric from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Emerson Electric from $113.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.47.

About Emerson Electric

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.