Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 5,000 Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its position in Atkore by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 318,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,569,000 after buying an additional 113,263 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Atkore by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,368,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,467,000 after acquiring an additional 134,517 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Atkore by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,994,000 after acquiring an additional 23,628 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Atkore by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 296,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,767,000 after acquiring an additional 46,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Atkore by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 56,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,687,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atkore

In other Atkore news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.16, for a total value of $69,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,270,384.48. This trade represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Atkore Stock Performance

NYSE:ATKR opened at $69.25 on Thursday. Atkore Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.92 and a fifty-two week high of $158.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 2.10.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.52. Atkore had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 12.42%. The company had revenue of $701.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $690.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Atkore Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Atkore Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Atkore’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Atkore’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ATKR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Atkore from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Capital set a $78.00 price target on shares of Atkore and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Atkore from $78.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Atkore from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.57.

About Atkore

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.