Short Interest in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) Grows By 5.6%

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,150,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the August 15th total of 6,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Emerson Electric during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 361.5% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank bought a new stake in Emerson Electric in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Emerson Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Emerson Electric by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on EMR shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $110.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Emerson Electric from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Emerson Electric in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Emerson Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.29.

Emerson Electric Price Performance

NYSE EMR traded up $1.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.95. 3,125,745 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,702,620. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.54. Emerson Electric has a fifty-two week low of $83.10 and a fifty-two week high of $119.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $59.47 billion, a PE ratio of 5.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Emerson Electric had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 10.12%. Emerson Electric’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Emerson Electric will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 11.24%.

About Emerson Electric

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.