Royce & Associates LP Boosts Stake in Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 412,752 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Atkore were worth $34,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATKR. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Atkore by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 19,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Atkore in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $364,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Atkore in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $350,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atkore by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Atkore by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares in the last quarter.

Atkore Stock Performance

ATKR stock opened at $64.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 2.22. Atkore Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $194.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.60.

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

Atkore Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Atkore’s payout ratio is 12.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATKR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital cut Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Atkore in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Atkore from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, B. Riley cut Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $32,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,194,400. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Atkore Company 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.