HEICO (NYSE:HEI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $259.80, but opened at $250.44. HEICO shares last traded at $242.15, with a volume of 402,018 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of HEICO from $243.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on HEICO from $250.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of HEICO from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of HEICO from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of HEICO from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.20.

HEICO Stock Up 0.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $261.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.24.

HEICO (NYSE:HEI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 17th. The aerospace company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.02. HEICO had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that HEICO Co. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HEICO Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a yield of 0.1%. HEICO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HEICO

In related news, Director Alan Schriesheim sold 332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total value of $66,941.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurans A. Mendelson purchased 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $262.94 per share, with a total value of $190,631.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 929,984 shares in the company, valued at $244,529,992.96. The trade was a 0.08 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 2,175 shares of company stock worth $571,895. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS purchased a new stake in HEICO during the third quarter valued at $214,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of HEICO by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in HEICO by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HEICO during the third quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of HEICO in the third quarter worth $822,000. Institutional investors own 27.12% of the company’s stock.

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.