ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $170.29.

A number of brokerages have commented on ITT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on ITT from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on ITT from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded ITT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of ITT from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of ITT from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

Institutional Trading of ITT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in ITT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $134,433,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ITT in the 4th quarter worth $73,762,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ITT in the third quarter valued at $67,503,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ITT by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $133,056,000 after buying an additional 360,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in ITT by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,564,926 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $652,237,000 after acquiring an additional 326,947 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ITT Stock Performance

ITT stock opened at $134.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.93. ITT has a 12-month low of $121.01 and a 12-month high of $161.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.02. ITT had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ITT will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

ITT Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.351 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from ITT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. ITT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

ITT Company Profile

ITT Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets in the United States and internationally. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains.