HEICO (NYSE:HEI) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $227.45, but opened at $245.00. HEICO shares last traded at $255.94, with a volume of 159,598 shares.

The aerospace company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $983.10 million. HEICO had a net margin of 13.33% and a return on equity of 14.63%.

HEICO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.1%. HEICO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HEI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on HEICO from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp began coverage on HEICO in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.20.

Institutional Trading of HEICO

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in HEICO by 219,129.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 22,234,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,285,970,000 after acquiring an additional 22,224,106 shares in the last quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC bought a new stake in HEICO in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,503,000. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in HEICO by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 453,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,861,000 after buying an additional 51,500 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in HEICO by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 415,542 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $98,791,000 after buying an additional 66,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of HEICO by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 371,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $88,244,000 after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.12% of the company’s stock.

HEICO Stock Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.72.

About HEICO

HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells aerospace, defense, and electronic related products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Flight Support Group segment provides jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts; thermal insulation blankets and parts; renewable/reusable insulation systems; and specialty components.