Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on nVent Electric (NYSE:NVT)

nVent Electric plc (NYSE:NVT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 6,300 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 457% compared to the average daily volume of 1,131 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVT shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on nVent Electric from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of nVent Electric from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of nVent Electric from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of nVent Electric from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at nVent Electric

In related news, CFO Sara E. Zawoyski sold 14,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.76, for a total value of $1,113,403.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,775,623.40. The trade was a 18.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jerry W. Burris sold 6,558 shares of nVent Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $524,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,603,200. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nVent Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in nVent Electric by 32.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,921 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of nVent Electric by 53.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in nVent Electric by 15.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 6,901 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of nVent Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,795,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of nVent Electric by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

nVent Electric Price Performance

Shares of nVent Electric stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.50. 812,730 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,990,308. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.83. nVent Electric has a 1-year low of $56.44 and a 1-year high of $86.57. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.39.

nVent Electric (NYSE:NVT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. nVent Electric had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 16.95%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that nVent Electric will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

nVent Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from nVent Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. nVent Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.46%.

About nVent Electric

nVent Electric plc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, installs, and services electrical connection and protection solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Enclosures, Electrical & Fastening Solutions, and Thermal Management.