ITT (NYSE:ITT) Upgraded to Buy by Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of ITT (NYSE:ITT) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has $125.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their prior target price of $105.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ITT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on ITT from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on ITT from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on ITT from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on ITT from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut ITT from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Sunday, October 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $111.29.

ITT Stock Performance

NYSE:ITT opened at $107.48 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.78. The company has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. ITT has a fifty-two week low of $75.82 and a fifty-two week high of $108.57.

ITT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. ITT’s payout ratio is 22.14%.

ITT announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 12.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Don Defosset sold 9,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.25, for a total value of $1,012,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,095,267.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ITT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al boosted its position in shares of ITT by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 108,366 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,610,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of ITT by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 511,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,046,000 after purchasing an additional 18,554 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of ITT by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 67,468 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,606,000 after purchasing an additional 6,171 shares in the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of ITT by 127.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 196,391 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,229,000 after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of ITT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,276,000. Institutional investors own 90.73% of the company’s stock.

ITT Company Profile

ITT Inc manufactures and sells engineered critical components and customized technology solutions for the transportation, industrial, and energy markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Motion Technologies, Industrial Process, and Connect & Control Technologies. The Motion Technologies segment manufactures brake pads, shims, shock absorbers, and energy absorption components; and sealing technologies primarily for the transportation industry, including passenger cars, trucks, light- and heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, buses, and trains.