Verity Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Oshkosh Co. (NYSE:OSK)

Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oshkosh Co. (NYSE:OSK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OSK. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Oshkosh by 3,329.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 240,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,073,000 after purchasing an additional 233,218 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Oshkosh by 154.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,044,000 after purchasing an additional 97,282 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Oshkosh by 704.3% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 68,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,817,000 after purchasing an additional 59,566 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Oshkosh during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,375,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Oshkosh during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,778,000. 92.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Oshkosh from $171.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Oshkosh from $125.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oshkosh from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Oshkosh from $125.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Oshkosh from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oshkosh currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.00.

Oshkosh Stock Performance

Shares of Oshkosh stock opened at $111.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.22. Oshkosh Co. has a 52 week low of $89.08 and a 52 week high of $127.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.36. Oshkosh had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 19.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oshkosh Co. will post 11 EPS for the current year.

Oshkosh Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Oshkosh’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Oshkosh’s payout ratio is presently 17.78%.

Oshkosh Profile

Oshkosh Corporation provides purpose-built vehicles and equipment worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Access, Defense, and Vocational segment. Its Access Equipment segment design and manufacture aerial work platform and telehandlers for use in construction, industrial, and maintenance applications; offers financing and leasing solutions including rental fleet loans, leases, and floor plan and retail financing; and towing and recovery equipment, which includes carriers, wreckers, and rotators, as well as provides equipment installation and sale of chassis and service parts.