ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 407 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tobam lifted its position in Emerson Electric by 2,275.0% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Emerson Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Emerson Electric during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in Emerson Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Emerson Electric Price Performance

Shares of Emerson Electric stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,108,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,210. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.77. The firm has a market cap of $61.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.66, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.94 and a fifty-two week high of $115.26.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.91 billion. Emerson Electric had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 69.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Emerson Electric’s payout ratio is 10.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 2,413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.18, for a total transaction of $248,973.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,591 shares in the company, valued at $989,599.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EMR. UBS Group increased their target price on Emerson Electric from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Emerson Electric from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.25.

Emerson Electric Company Profile

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.