Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the September 15th total of 3,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 837,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 12.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATKR has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Atkore from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Atkore from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of Atkore from $183.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Atkore from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.60.

Atkore Price Performance

ATKR traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $88.91. The company had a trading volume of 97,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,975. Atkore has a twelve month low of $80.11 and a twelve month high of $194.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 3.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 2.14.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $822.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.16 million. Atkore had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 36.96%. The business’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Atkore will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atkore Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Atkore’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atkore

In other Atkore news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.47, for a total value of $47,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,086 shares in the company, valued at $2,681,370.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atkore

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atkore by 91.8% in the third quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Atkore by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Atkore by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,445,000 after buying an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Atkore by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Atkore by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 160,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,568,000 after purchasing an additional 55,841 shares in the last quarter.

About Atkore

Atkore Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers conduits, cables, and installation accessories. It also designs and manufactures protection and reliability solutions for critical infrastructure, such as metal framing, mechanical pipe, perimeter security, and cable management.