Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,648 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $11,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EMR. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 127.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,544,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $278,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,800 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 10.6% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 5.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 331,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,307,000 after purchasing an additional 17,372 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,698,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,721,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Emerson Electric by 664.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 2,918 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EMR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Emerson Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays cut shares of Emerson Electric from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Daiwa America raised shares of Emerson Electric to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $137.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.22.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

EMR opened at $113.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.03. Emerson Electric Co. has a twelve month low of $96.62 and a twelve month high of $134.85.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 12.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.5275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Emerson Electric’s payout ratio is 50.36%.

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.