Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $69.73 Million in BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 626,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,730,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of BWX Technologies by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,754,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $190,721,000 after buying an additional 320,217 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BWX Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,682,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $182,938,000 after buying an additional 26,130 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of BWX Technologies by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,408,736 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $156,919,000 after buying an additional 448,467 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of BWX Technologies by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,379,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,694,000 after buying an additional 228,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of BWX Technologies by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 746,145 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,105,000 after buying an additional 168,077 shares during the last quarter. 94.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BWX Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:BWXT opened at $99.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.69. BWX Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.70 and a 1-year high of $136.31.

BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The technology company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $746.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $653.16 million. BWX Technologies had a net margin of 10.32% and a return on equity of 31.95%. On average, research analysts expect that BWX Technologies, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BWX Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from BWX Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. BWX Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.57%.

Insider Transactions at BWX Technologies

In other news, CEO Rex D. Geveden sold 45,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.40, for a total transaction of $4,900,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 218,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,436,613.20. This trade represents a 17.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ronald Owen Whitford, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.92, for a total transaction of $209,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,039,127.68. The trade was a 16.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,625 shares of company stock valued at $5,734,145. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on BWX Technologies from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on BWX Technologies from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Maxim Group increased their price target on BWX Technologies from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price target on BWX Technologies from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded BWX Technologies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $148.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.50.

BWX Technologies Company Profile

BWX Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells nuclear components in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Government Operations and Commercial Operations. The Government Operations segment designs and manufactures naval nuclear components, reactors, and nuclear fuel; fabrication activities; and supplies proprietary and sole-source valves, manifolds, and fittings to naval and commercial shipping customers.