Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Short Interest Down 21.3% in February

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ATKR shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 for the company. Roth Capital raised Atkore to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Atkore Price Performance

ATKR traded up $3.08 on Wednesday, hitting $62.32. 517,976 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 734,654. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.42. 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 has a one year low of $55.91 and a one year high of $194.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 2.22.

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

Atkore Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Atkore’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atkore news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $32,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,194,400. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Atkore by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Atkore by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 634 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Atkore by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 841 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Atkore by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atkore by 3,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter.

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.