2. Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:MOD)
GAMCO Investors’ Stake: $139.62 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43
Market Capitalization as of May 8: $4.95 billion
Average Upside Potential as of May 8: 49.62%
Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:MOD) provides thermal management products and solutions. It operates through Climate Solutions and Performance Technologies segments. It also provides data center products that consist of IT cooling solutions, such as precision air conditioning units for data center applications and computer room air conditioning & handler units.
The company recently secured a $180 million order from a leading AI infrastructure developer for its specialized Airedale by Modine data center cooling systems. This system is an AI-enhanced version of Modine’s Cooling System Optimizer that offers energy consumption reductions of up to 40%. To fully capitalize on this, Modine is making Cooling AI available as a new system and as a retrofit option for existing Airedale by Modine Cooling System Optimizers.
DA Davidson reiterated a Buy rating on the stock on March 31, while lowering its price target to $140 from $155. Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:MOD) now projects to grow data center sales by 110% to 120% for the full FY2025. In FQ3 2025, Modine’s data center revenues grew by 176% year-over-year. This was fueled by the acquisition of Scott Springfield, which contributed $63 million to this revenue.
SouthernSun Small Cap Strategy is positive on the company and stated the following regarding Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE:MOD) is an over 100-year-old thermal management company based in Racine, WI. The company started out producing heat exchangers for tractors but quickly expanded into the automotive market and became a major supplier of heat exchangers to leading car manufacturers. As demand for automobiles increased significantly throughout the 20th century, Modine expanded operations globally. However, as the automotive market matured and became more competitive, MOD’s growth slowed, and the company went through numerous restructurings to take cost out of the business. The company attempted to diversify into the HVAC industry by buying Airedale in 2005 and Luvata in 2016, but management lacked a clear strategic vision, and the legacy automotive business continued to attract most of the time and resources.
In December 2020, MOD’s board decided new leadership was needed and hired Neil Brinker as CEO. Brinker was previously COO at Advanced Energy (AEIS) and had experience working at Idex Corporation (IEX) and Danaher (DANH) – both high performing industrials (we have been owners of AEIS and IEX and think highly of their business culture). After assessing the business, Brinker decided the company needed to move away from its legacy automotive parts businesses and shift resources into HVAC. He quickly implemented operational changes including reorganizing the business into 6 business units, hiring new general managers, implementing 80/20, and divesting low growth, low-margin automotive businesses. The changes yielded quick results with Adjusted EBITDA rising roughly 80% over three years…” (Click here to read the full text)
