StockNews.com Upgrades Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

Friedman Industries Stock Performance

FRD stock opened at $14.24 on Monday. Friedman Industries has a twelve month low of $9.50 and a twelve month high of $19.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter. Friedman Industries had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $114.55 million for the quarter.

Friedman Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Friedman Industries’s payout ratio is 9.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Max Alan Reichenthal bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.00 per share, with a total value of $28,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,654. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought a total of 6,365 shares of company stock valued at $91,241 over the last quarter. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRD. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Friedman Industries by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 361,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,464,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Friedman Industries by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,482,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Friedman Industries in the second quarter worth about $343,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Friedman Industries by 1.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 135,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 8.6% during the second quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 54,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293 shares during the last quarter. 33.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Friedman Industries Company Profile

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.