Heartland Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX)

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 326,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 40,300 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Pipe were worth $15,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NWPX. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Pipe during the third quarter valued at approximately $944,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Northwest Pipe by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 56,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,544,000 after buying an additional 14,374 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Pipe by 272.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 9,514 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Northwest Pipe during the 4th quarter valued at about $381,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Pipe during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 80.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Pipe Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWPX opened at $42.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.67 and a 200 day moving average of $47.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Northwest Pipe has a twelve month low of $31.16 and a twelve month high of $57.76. The firm has a market cap of $421.34 million, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Aaron Wilkins sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $44,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,032,548. This trade represents a 4.09 % 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. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NWPX shares. Sidoti upgraded shares of Northwest Pipe to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut Northwest Pipe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price target on Northwest Pipe from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Northwest Pipe Company Profile

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems.