Cummins (NYSE:CMI) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $669.22 and last traded at $663.58, with a volume of 168038 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $638.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Cummins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Cummins from $546.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Argus set a $696.00 price objective on Cummins in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Cummins in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Cummins and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cummins presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $600.27.

Cummins Trading Up 5.3%

The stock has a market cap of $92.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $579.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $535.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $5.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.64. Cummins had a return on equity of 25.71% and a net margin of 8.44%.The firm had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cummins Inc. will post 26.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Cummins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. Cummins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.99%.

Insider Transactions at Cummins

In other news, Director William I. Miller sold 18,107 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.10, for a total value of $10,811,689.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,446,495.30. This represents a 34.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Amy Rochelle Davis sold 4,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.34, for a total value of $2,275,672.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 15,807 shares in the company, valued at $8,873,101.38. This trade represents a 20.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,195 shares of company stock valued at $18,397,489. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cummins

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cummins by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,746,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,058,841,000 after purchasing an additional 98,544 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cummins by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,509,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,322,954,000 after purchasing an additional 49,628 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cummins by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,822,534,000 after purchasing an additional 35,286 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cummins by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,410,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,741,004,000 after purchasing an additional 43,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Cummins by 10,317.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,458,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.46% of the company’s stock.

About Cummins

Cummins Inc (NYSE: CMI) is a global power technology company that designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of diesel and natural gas engines, electrified powertrains, power generation systems and related components. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins has grown into one of the world’s leading suppliers of internal combustion engines and a provider of technologies that reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

The company’s product lineup includes heavy-, medium- and light-duty engines for on-highway and off-highway applications, generator sets and power systems for commercial and industrial use, and key engine components such as turbochargers, fuel systems, air handling, filtration and aftertreatment solutions.