Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) Short Interest Update

Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, an increase of 24.4% from the January 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 740,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMI. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cummins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cummins from $395.00 to $407.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cummins from $310.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Cummins from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cummins from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cummins presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $386.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cummins by 59.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Cummins during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Cummins in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cummins by 208.0% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 77 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cummins during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.46% of the company’s stock.

Cummins Trading Down 2.1 %

CMI stock traded down $7.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $337.58. The company had a trading volume of 476,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 835,123. The company has a market capitalization of $46.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $361.95 and a 200 day moving average of $345.63. Cummins has a 12 month low of $260.88 and a 12 month high of $387.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Cummins had a return on equity of 27.12% and a net margin of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $8.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.14 earnings per share. Cummins’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Cummins will post 22.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cummins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $1.82 dividend. This represents a $7.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Cummins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.84%.

About Cummins

Cummins Inc designs, manufactures, distributes, and services diesel and natural gas engines, electric and hybrid powertrains, and related components worldwide. It operates through five segments: Engine, Distribution, Components, Power Systems, and Accelera. The company offers diesel and natural gas-powered engines under the Cummins and other customer brands for the heavy and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, construction, mining, marine, rail, oil and gas, defense, and agricultural markets; and offers parts and services, as well as remanufactured parts and engines.