Textron (NYSE:TXT) Upgraded to Buy at Vertical Research

Vertical Research upgraded shares of Textron (NYSE:TXT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $91.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on TXT. TD Cowen raised Textron to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Textron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Textron from $109.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Textron from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Textron from $87.00 to $79.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Textron Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TXT opened at $75.35 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.85 and its 200 day moving average is $85.71. Textron has a 52 week low of $75.09 and a 52 week high of $97.33.

Textron (NYSE:TXT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.09). Textron had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 16.02%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Textron will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Textron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.11%. Textron’s payout ratio is 1.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TXT. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Textron by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,549,551 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $133,096,000 after buying an additional 258,778 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Textron by 18.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,293 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $124,608,000 after acquiring an additional 231,173 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity National Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Textron in the second quarter worth about $19,748,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Textron by 101,299.4% during the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 166,295 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,278,000 after purchasing an additional 166,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Textron by 6.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,808,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $241,152,000 after purchasing an additional 160,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.03% of the company’s stock.

About Textron

Textron Inc operates in the aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, Textron eAviation, and Finance. The Textron Aviation segment manufactures, sells, and services business jets, turboprop and piston engine aircraft, and military trainer and defense aircraft; and offers maintenance, inspection, and repair services, as well as sells commercial parts.