Ethic Inc. Increases Stake in Enpro Inc. (NYSE:NPO)

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Enpro Inc. (NYSE:NPO) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Enpro were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Enpro by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Enpro by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,873 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,949 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Enpro by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 313,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,108,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Enpro by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Enpro by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 13,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares during the period. 98.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NPO shares. Sidoti raised shares of Enpro to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Enpro from $230.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Enpro Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE NPO opened at $185.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.48. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 53.50 and a beta of 1.51. Enpro Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.50 and a 52-week high of $214.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Enpro (NYSE:NPO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $273.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.23 million. Enpro had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 6.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Enpro Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enpro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Enpro’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Enpro

In related news, CAO Steven R. Bower sold 997 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.66, for a total transaction of $199,061.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Enpro

Enpro Inc design, develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary, value-added products and solutions to safeguard critical environments in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Sealing Technologies and Advanced Surface Technologies. The Sealing Technologies segment offers single-use hygienic seals, tubing, components and assemblies; metallic, non-metallic, and composite material gaskets; dynamic seals; compression packing; hydraulic components; expansion joints; and wall penetration products for chemical and petrochemical processing, pulp and paper processing, nuclear energy, hydrogen, natural gas, food and biopharmaceutical processing, primary metal manufacturing, mining, water and waste treatment, commercial vehicle, aerospace, medical, filtration, and semiconductor fabrication industries.