Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hubbell were worth $1,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of Hubbell by 3.8% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Hubbell by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hubbell by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Hubbell by 5.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Hubbell by 3.2% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 88.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on HUBB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hubbell from $455.00 to $450.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Hubbell from $407.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Hubbell in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $535.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hubbell from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Hubbell from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $493.00 to $473.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $471.50.

Hubbell Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:HUBB opened at $389.93 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $426.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.65. Hubbell Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.13 and a 52 week high of $481.35. The company has a market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Hubbell (NYSE:HUBB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Hubbell had a return on equity of 28.62% and a net margin of 13.82%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hubbell Incorporated will post 17.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hubbell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $1.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Hubbell’s payout ratio is 36.77%.

Hubbell announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Hubbell

Hubbell Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells electrical and utility solutions in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Electrical Solutions and Utility Solutions. The Electrical Solution segment offers standard and special application wiring device products, rough-in electrical products, connector and grounding products, lighting fixtures, and other electrical equipment for use in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities by electrical contractors, maintenance personnel, electricians, utilities, and telecommunications companies, as well as components and assemblies.