Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) Short Interest Up 25.9% in June

Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,720,000 shares, an increase of 25.9% from the May 31st total of 3,750,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TXT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Textron from $104.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Textron from $103.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered Textron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upgraded Textron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Textron from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kathleen M. Bader sold 11,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.91, for a total transaction of $1,043,491.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,756 shares in the company, valued at $330,189.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Textron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TXT. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Textron during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Textron in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Textron in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Textron by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 507 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Textron by 677.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 86.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Textron Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Textron stock traded down $0.48 on Friday, reaching $85.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,845,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,773. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.08. Textron has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $97.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Textron (NYSE:TXT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.08). Textron had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Textron will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Textron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Textron’s payout ratio is currently 1.71%.

Textron Company Profile

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.