Short Interest in Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Increases By 15.6%

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,850,000 shares, a growth of 15.6% from the March 31st total of 5,060,000 shares. Currently, 16.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 485,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATKR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Atkore from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Atkore from $176.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Atkore in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atkore

In other news, VP Leangela W. Lowe sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.07, for a total transaction of $1,144,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,631.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Leangela W. Lowe sold 6,500 shares of Atkore stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.07, for a total value of $1,144,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,631.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Daniel S. Kelly sold 8,685 shares of Atkore stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.07, for a total transaction of $1,503,112.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 34,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,041,354.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,464 shares of company stock valued at $25,124,751. 2.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atkore

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atkore by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Atkore by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Atkore by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its stake in Atkore by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 13,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Atkore by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 11,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period.

Atkore Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ATKR traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $183.09. 337,626 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 452,614. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 2.19. Atkore has a one year low of $116.14 and a one year high of $194.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.50.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $4.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $798.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.05 million. Atkore had a return on equity of 46.79% and a net margin of 18.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.51 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Atkore will post 15.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Atkore Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. Atkore’s payout ratio is 7.67%.

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.