ITT (NYSE:ITT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ITT (NYSE:ITT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of ITT in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of ITT from $155.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on ITT from $176.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on ITT from $171.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on ITT from $165.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.75.

ITT Stock Up 1.0 %

ITT stock opened at $144.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.44. ITT has a 12 month low of $113.70 and a 12 month high of $161.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.40.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The conglomerate reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.03. ITT had a return on equity of 17.98% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $885.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. ITT’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that ITT will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ITT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.319 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. ITT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITT. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in ITT by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of ITT during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ITT by 6.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ITT by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,369,021 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $204,736,000 after buying an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of ITT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

About ITT

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.