Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Miller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 106,291 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 75,504 shares.The stock last traded at $69.70 and had previously closed at $68.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Miller Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Miller Industries in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Miller Industries Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $756.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Miller Industries (NYSE:MLR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The auto parts company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.33. Miller Industries had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm had revenue of $314.27 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Miller Industries, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

Miller Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Miller Industries’s payout ratio is presently 12.60%.

Institutional Trading of Miller Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter worth $721,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Miller Industries by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,079,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Miller Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $407,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Miller Industries by 94.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 63,360 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,486,000 after acquiring an additional 30,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.24% of the company’s stock.

Miller Industries Company Profile

Miller Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells towing and recovery equipment. The company offers wreckers that are used to recover and tow disabled vehicles and other equipment; and car carriers, which are specialized flat-bed vehicles with hydraulic tilt mechanisms, which are used to transport new or disabled vehicles and other equipment.