Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Short Interest Update

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, a drop of 21.3% from the January 31st total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 708,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $32,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,194,400. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Atkore by 37.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in Atkore in the 3rd quarter valued at $126,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Atkore by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Atkore by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after buying an additional 7,123 shares during the period. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Atkore by 74.1% during the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 5,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ATKR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 price target (up from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. B. Riley lowered 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Atkore in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Roth Capital raised Atkore to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Atkore Stock Performance

NYSE:ATKR traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $58.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 254,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,814. Atkore has a one year low of $55.91 and a one year high of $194.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 2.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.45. Atkore had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 12.42%. The business had revenue of $661.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $680.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Atkore will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atkore Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Atkore’s payout ratio is 12.39%.

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.