Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:ONT) Stock Price Up 7.9% on Insider Buying Activity

Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. (NYSE:ONT) was up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $17.42 and last traded at $17.18. Approximately 252,711 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 380,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.92.

Specifically, CFO Allan Dicks purchased 6,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.36 per share, with a total value of $100,377.60. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 218,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,351,214.08. This trade represents a 3.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ONT shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Montrose Environmental Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Montrose Environmental Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Montrose Environmental Group from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Montrose Environmental Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $549.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.90.

Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:ONT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $193.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.24 million. Montrose Environmental Group had a return on equity of 5.61% and a net margin of 0.71%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.90) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Montrose Environmental Group by 3,733.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 11,200 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Montrose Environmental Group by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,346,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,470,000 after acquiring an additional 66,543 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Montrose Environmental Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 4,493 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 83,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 12,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.87% of the company’s stock.

About Montrose Environmental Group

Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE: MEG) is a global provider of environmental technical and monitoring services, delivering solutions for site assessment, remediation, compliance and long-term environmental stewardship. The company serves a broad range of industries, including energy, manufacturing, chemicals, mining and government agencies, supporting clients with risk management strategies, regulatory permitting and environmental permitting.

Montrose’s core offerings encompass environmental consulting, engineering design, field sampling and laboratory analysis, plus innovative digital monitoring platforms.