Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $880,000 Stake in ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,161 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ITT were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in ITT by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,437,674 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $364,457,000 after acquiring an additional 26,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ITT by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,369,021 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $204,736,000 after buying an additional 8,223 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ITT by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,599 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $108,817,000 after buying an additional 3,727 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of ITT by 4.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 669,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $100,100,000 after buying an additional 27,885 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ITT by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 517,307 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $73,913,000 after buying an additional 3,424 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ITT. UBS Group upped their price objective on ITT from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on ITT in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. StockNews.com upgraded ITT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on ITT from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.38.

ITT Price Performance

NYSE:ITT opened at $135.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $144.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.42. ITT Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.01 and a 12-month high of $161.13.

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

ITT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.351 dividend. This is a positive change from ITT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. 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.