Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,398 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in ITT were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ITT by 262.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new position in ITT in the 3rd quarter worth $236,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in ITT by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 57,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,666,000 after purchasing an additional 11,175 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of ITT by 101.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 18,034 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 9,070 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ITT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

ITT Stock Performance

Shares of ITT stock opened at $139.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.42. ITT Inc. has a one year low of $121.01 and a one year high of $161.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $143.62 and its 200 day moving average is $145.99.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.02. ITT had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that ITT Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ITT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.351 per share. This is an increase from ITT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. ITT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ITT. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of ITT from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ITT in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on ITT from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on ITT from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.38.

ITT 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.