Willis Investment Counsel Grows Holdings in Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,350 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Atkore were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATKR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Atkore by 26.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,234,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,599,000 after acquiring an additional 261,234 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Atkore by 20.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 396,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,562,000 after buying an additional 66,533 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Atkore by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 296,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,767,000 after acquiring an additional 46,200 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in Atkore by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 205,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Atkore by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 188,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,961,000 after purchasing an additional 15,626 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Atkore from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. B. Riley cut Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Atkore to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Atkore in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atkore presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Daniel S. Kelly sold 13,071 shares of Atkore stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $1,251,417.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,635,530.72. The trade was a 32.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeri L. Isbell sold 3,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total value of $315,282.59. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,585 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,757.55. The trade was a 11.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,924 shares of company stock worth $1,614,975 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Atkore Stock Down 2.5 %

ATKR opened at $81.45 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.07 and its 200 day moving average is $92.50. Atkore Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.01 and a fifty-two week high of $194.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.06). Atkore had a return on equity of 32.14% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $788.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $749.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atkore Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atkore Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Atkore’s payout ratio is 10.13%.

Atkore Profile

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.