Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $98.82 Million Stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 797,354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,622 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $98,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Emerson Electric by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,810,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,822,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,980 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Emerson Electric by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,552,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,591,612,000 after purchasing an additional 581,102 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Emerson Electric by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,453,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,570,000 after buying an additional 162,985 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 107.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,896,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,852,000 after buying an additional 2,016,075 shares during the period. 74.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EMR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Emerson Electric from $137.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Emerson Electric from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Emerson Electric in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Emerson Electric in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Emerson Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.90.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Emerson Electric stock opened at $125.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $125.59 and its 200-day moving average is $117.18. Emerson Electric Co. has a one year low of $96.62 and a one year high of $134.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. Emerson Electric had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 13.74%. Equities analysts predict that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.5275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.