Textron (NYSE:TXT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Textron (NYSE:TXT – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Textron from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $81.67.

Textron Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE TXT opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.19 and a 200-day moving average of $68.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.49. Textron has a 52 week low of $57.11 and a 52 week high of $76.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 2.19.

Textron (NYSE:TXT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.06. Textron had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 6.69%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Textron will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Textron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.12%. Textron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott C. Donnelly sold 222,319 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total value of $16,307,098.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,136 shares in the company, valued at $50,108,025.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Frank T. Connor sold 63,361 shares of Textron stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total value of $4,647,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 151,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,109,224.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott C. Donnelly sold 222,319 shares of Textron stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total value of $16,307,098.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,108,025.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Textron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coston McIsaac & Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Textron in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its position in Textron by 109.0% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Textron by 100.0% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Textron during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.69% of the company’s stock.

About Textron

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Textron, Inc is a multi-industry company, which leverages a global network of aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses to provide customers innovative solutions and services. The company operates its business through the following segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, and Finance.