Heico (NYSE:HEI) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Heico Corporation (NYSE:HEI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $341.79 and last traded at $342.3450, with a volume of 68498 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $329.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Heico in a report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Heico in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Heico in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $367.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Heico in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $355.00) on shares of Heico in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heico has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.07.

Heico Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.84, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $318.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.05.

Heico (NYSE:HEI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The aerospace company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Heico had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 16.80%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heico Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heico Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. This represents a yield of 7.0%. Heico’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.89%.

Insider Transactions at Heico

In other Heico news, Director Mark H. Hildebrandt acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $248.76 per share, for a total transaction of $99,504.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,181 shares in the company, valued at $293,785.56. This represents a 51.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas M. Culligan bought 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $243.93 per share, for a total transaction of $164,896.68. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,690,547.90. The trade was a 6.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 4,448 shares of company stock worth $1,086,933. 9.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HEI. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Heico by 366.0% in the second quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 308,457 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $101,174,000 after buying an additional 242,264 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heico by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 769,704 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $248,476,000 after acquiring an additional 241,559 shares during the last quarter. Munro Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Heico during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,720,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Heico by 263.2% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 60,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $19,521,000 after acquiring an additional 43,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management bought a new stake in Heico during the 2nd quarter worth $11,552,000. Institutional investors own 27.12% of the company’s stock.

Heico Company Profile

HEICO Corporation is an aerospace, defense and electronics company that designs, manufactures, and sells a range of products and provides repair and aftermarket services. Headquartered in Hollywood, Florida, HEICO supplies replacement components, repair services and engineered systems for commercial and business aviation, military and space markets as well as for selected industrial and medical customers. The company’s offerings are focused on sustaining and improving the reliability and availability of complex equipment across its end markets.

HEICO operates through two principal business areas.