KCM Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Emerson Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,536,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,634,837,000 after acquiring an additional 384,313 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,685,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,443,725,000 after purchasing an additional 232,540 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter worth $885,886,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Emerson Electric by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,013,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,083,000 after buying an additional 375,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Emerson Electric by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,376,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $542,379,000 after buying an additional 171,946 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on EMR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Emerson Electric in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Emerson Electric in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.94.

Emerson Electric Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EMR opened at $94.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.74. Emerson Electric Co. has a 52-week low of $92.23 and a 52-week high of $134.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 12.08%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.5275 per share. This represents a $2.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.36%.

Emerson Electric Profile

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.