HVACR Stock Index Ends at Record; So Does S&P 500
Originally published: 02.17.15 by Margot Crabtree
Oil prices and geopolitical concerns continued their tug-o-war on stocks this month. As our trading session ended February 13, 2015, however, oil prices ended their swoon and markets stabilized, with the S&P 500 closing at a record, and the NASDAQ at a 15-year high.
The Commerce Department said that the economy grew at a 2.6 percent rate in the final quarter of the year, bogged down by weak business investment, and trade and government purchasing, down from a 5 percent rate in the previous quarter. The department also reported that builders began construction on over 1 million new homes and apartments in 2014, an 8.8 percent rise from 2013, and the first time construction has hit one million since the height of the housing boom in 2005.
Single-family housing starts jumped 7.2 percent in December, to the highest pace since March 2008. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 93.6 in early February, from a 98.1 in January; no change was expected. Even so, the reading was the second highest since January 2007.
“The economic data is coming in OK, and when you delve into the big picture of the earnings reports, they’re not bad,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at Boston Private Wealth. “People want to be in the market when it starts to go back up.”
Exchange |
Symbol |
Company Name |
Price
|
Price
|
Net
|
PercentChange |
52-Week
|
52-Week
|
Shares
|
Market
|
| NASD | AAON | AAON, Inc. | 23.37 | 21.30 | 2.07 | 9.72% | 23.95 | 16.78 | 54470 | 1272963.9 |
| NYSE | ABB | ABB Ltd. | 21.34 | 20.12 | 1.22 | 6.06% | 26.35 | 19.14 | 2260000 | 48228400 |
| NYSE | ARG | Airgas, Inc. | 115.27 | 111.44 | 3.83 | 3.44% | 118.75 | 101.36 | 75120 | 8659082.4 |
| NYSE | AOS | AO Smith Corp. | 62.76 | 54.23 | 8.53 | 15.73% | 63.18 | 44.14 | 90210 | 5661579.6 |
| NYSE | FIX | Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 16.96 | 16.16 | 0.80 | 4.95% | 18.17 | 12.63 | 37640 | 638374.4 |
| NYSE | DOV | Dover Corp. | 74.41 | 68.59 | 5.82 | 8.49% | 91.84 | 67.13 | 164590 | 12247141.9 |
| NASD | ELON | Echelon Corp. | 1.16 | 1.42 | -0.26 | -18.31% | 3.54 | 1.15 | 43900 | 50924 |
| NYSE | DD | E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. | 76.18 | 73.15 | 3.03 | 4.14% | 76.66 | 63.66 | 905410 | 68974133.8 |
| NYSE | EME | EMCOR Group, Inc. | 43.70 | 40.17 | 3.53 | 8.79% | 48.00 | 38.68 | 64750 | 2829575 |
| NYSE | EMR | Emerson Electric Co. | 58.68 | 59.38 | -0.70 | -1.18% | 69.94 | 55.81 | 685200 | 40207536 |
| NYSE | FCAU | Fiat Chrysler | 14.53 | 11.81 | 2.72 | 23.03% | 14.61 | 8.54 | 1170000 | 17000100 |
| NYSE | F | Ford Motor Co. | 16.30 | 14.86 | 1.44 | 9.69% | 18.12 | 13.26 | 3850000 | 62755000 |
| NYSE | GM | General Motors Co. | 37.62 | 33.43 | 4.19 | 12.53% | 38.18 | 28.82 | 1610000 | 60568200 |
| NYSE | HON | Honeywell International, Inc. | 104.38 | 97.11 | 7.27 | 7.49% | 104.45 | 82.89 | 783800 | 81813044 |
| NASD | HDSN | Hudson Technologies, Inc. | 3.54 | 3.50 | 0.04 | 1.14% | 4.80 | 2.55 | 32030 | 113386.2 |
| NYSE | IR | Ingersoll-Rand Plc | 67.69 | 61.55 | 6.14 | 9.98% | 68.03 | 52.47 | 269500 | 18242455 |
| NYSE | JCI | Johnson Controls, Inc. | 48.50 | 44.95 | 3.55 | 7.90% | 51.60 | 38.60 | 657290 | 31878565 |
| NYSE | LII | Lennox International Inc. | 104.27 | 94.78 | 9.49 | 10.01% | 104.50 | 72.61 | 44640 | 4654612.8 |
| NYSE | LXU | LSB Industries, Inc. | 35.39 | 30.43 | 4.96 | 16.30% | 42.41 | 28.91 | 22610 | 800167.9 |
| NYSE | MTW | Manitowoc Co., Inc. | 21.86 | 17.69 | 4.17 | 23.57% | 33.50 | 16.24 | 135320 | 2958095.2 |
| NYSE | NWL | Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. | 39.57 | 37.78 | 1.79 | 4.74% | 39.58 | 28.27 | 272700 | 10790739 |
| NYSE | MLI | Mueller Industries, Inc. | 34.62 | 31.78 | 2.84 | 8.94% | 35.13 | 27.10 | 56170 | 1944605.4 |
| NASD | NTK | Nortek, Inc. | 79.00 | 75.35 | 3.65 | 4.84% | 92.30 | 70.10 | 16160 | 1276640 |
| OTC | NSANY | Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. | 19.81 | 16.80 | 3.01 | 17.92% | 20.27 | 16.65 | 2100000 | 41601000 |
| NASD | OFLX | OmegaFlex, Inc. | 31.00 | 32.54 | -1.54 | -4.73% | 39.46 | 15.93 | 10090 | 312790 |
| NYSE | PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 124.06 | 119.93 | 4.13 | 3.44% | 133.41 | 99.82 | 142460 | 17673587.6 |
| NYSE | RBC | Regal-Beloit Corp. | 76.14 | 69.45 | 6.69 | 9.63% | 80.22 | 62.15 | 44690 | 3402696.6 |
| NYSE | ROK | Rockwell Automation | 117.90 | 104.80 | 13.10 | 12.50% | 128.57 | 98.55 | 135440 | 15968376 |
| OTC | SIEGY | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | 109.87 | 110.06 | -0.19 | -0.17% | 137.06 | 103.20 | 881000 | 96795470 |
| NYSE | SPW | SPX Corp. | 87.37 | 81.96 | 5.41 | 6.60% | 111.47 | 77.30 | 41070 | 3588285.9 |
| NYSE | TXN | Texas Instruments | 57.97 | 52.39 | 5.58 | 10.65% | 57.98 | 41.47 | 1050000 | 60868500 |
| NYSE | UTX | United Technologies Corp. | 121.25 | 113.52 | 7.73 | 6.81% | 121.38 | 97.30 | 907160 | 109993150 |
| NYSE | WSO | Watsco, Inc. | 116.96 | 105.61 | 11.35 | 10.75% | 118.49 | 84.28 | 32330 | 3781316.8 |
The HVACR Business Stock Index enjoyed a robust month, and stormed ahead 93.17 points, or 7.52 percent, to notch a record at its closing of 1331.90. Advancing issues easily dominated declining issues at a 29-to-4 count.
Rockwell Automation jumped 13.10 points, or 12.50 percent. Profit rose 8 percent, and ROK reported net income from continuing operations of $214.2 million, or $1.56 per share, compared to $198.1 million, or $1.56 per share in the same quarter last year.
Adjusted for one-time items, Rockwell earned $1.64 per share. Revenue was off 1 percent, to $1.57. ROK’s profit was boosted by a 4.4 percent drop in cost of sales. Rockwell closed at 117.90, and was the top dollar gainer.
Echelon fell 0.26 points, or 18.31 percent. ELON posted a loss of $2.6 million, or $0.06 per share, versus a loss of $4 million, or $0.09 per share last year. Revenue was $9.6 million, from $12.5 million a year ago.
Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained their “neutral” rating on ELON, but lowered their price target to $2.50, from $3. ELON ended at 1.16, and was the top percentage loser.
Manitowoc gained 4.17 points, or 23.57 percent, despite falling short of fourth quarter forecasts. MTW earned net income of $33.6 million, or $0.25 per share, compared to net income of $20.9 million, or $0.15 per share last year. Revenue was $1.04 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, Manitowoc earned $0.27 per share; analysts polled by Zacks expected earnings of $0.33 per share and revenue of $1.07 billion.
MTW said it plans to spin off its food service arm from its crane business, however, a move pushed by activist investor Carl Icahn. The company’s board approved and the spin-off is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016. MTW closed at 21.86, and was the top percentage gainer.
Margot Crabtree is president of Trade Trends, Inc., a financial data services provider. She has been offering market analysis with customized stock indices and financial commentaries since 1999. For additional information, visit www.tradetrendsonline.com.