Enpro (NYSE:NPO) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Enpro (NYSE:NPO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on NPO. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Enpro from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Enpro from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Enpro Price Performance

NPO stock opened at $173.22 on Wednesday. Enpro has a one year low of $136.68 and a one year high of $197.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 67.40 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Enpro (NYSE:NPO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.13). Enpro had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $260.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Enpro will post 6.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Enpro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Enpro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven R. Bower sold 300 shares of Enpro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.50, for a total transaction of $48,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 130 shares in the company, valued at $21,125. The trade was a 69.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enpro

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Enpro by 168.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Enpro in the second quarter worth $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Enpro by 357.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Enpro during the third quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Enpro by 24.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.31% of the company’s stock.

About Enpro

Enpro Inc design, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary, value-added products and solutions to safeguard critical environments in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Sealing Technologies and Advanced Surface Technologies. The Sealing Technologies segment offers single-use hygienic seals, tubing, components and assemblies; metallic, non-metallic, and composite material gaskets; dynamic seals; compression packing; hydraulic components; expansion joints; and wall penetration products for chemical and petrochemical processing, pulp and paper processing, nuclear energy, hydrogen, natural gas, food and biopharmaceutical processing, primary metal manufacturing, mining, water and waste treatment, commercial vehicle, aerospace, medical, filtration, and semiconductor fabrication industries.