Cummins (NYSE:CMI) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cummins (NYSE:CMI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

CMI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Cummins in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $278.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Cummins from $231.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cummins from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cummins from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Cummins from an a- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cummins has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $279.70.

Cummins Stock Performance

NYSE:CMI opened at $292.42 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.89. The company has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.45, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.18. Cummins has a fifty-two week low of $203.18 and a fifty-two week high of $304.24.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.10 billion. Cummins had a net margin of 2.16% and a return on equity of 25.68%. The business’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cummins will post 18.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cummins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Cummins’s payout ratio is presently 129.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.16, for a total value of $2,883,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,685,847.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.16, for a total value of $2,883,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,685,847.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.29, for a total value of $569,709.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,584,529.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,289 shares of company stock valued at $13,576,838 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Cummins in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Cummins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Cummins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new position in Cummins in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates bought a new position in shares of Cummins in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 83.46% of the company’s stock.

Cummins Company Profile

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.