Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Buys 6,380 Shares of ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT)

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ITT Inc. (NYSE:ITT) by 290.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 6,380 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ITT were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in ITT by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 11,436 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ITT in the 4th quarter valued at $2,565,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in ITT during the 4th quarter worth $134,433,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in ITT by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 35,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,067,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in shares of ITT by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 199,002 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $28,433,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ITT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ITT in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on ITT from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on ITT from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of ITT from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ITT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.29.

ITT Stock Down 2.7 %

ITT stock opened at $134.26 on Friday. ITT Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.01 and a 1-year high of $161.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.42.

ITT (NYSE:ITT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The conglomerate reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ITT Inc. will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

ITT Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.351 per share. This is a boost from ITT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. ITT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.