StockNews.com Downgrades GMS (NYSE:GMS) to Buy

GMS (NYSE:GMS) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

GMS has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on GMS from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on GMS from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on GMS from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stephens raised their price target on GMS from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on GMS from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.63.

GMS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GMS opened at $93.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.18. GMS has a twelve month low of $55.88 and a twelve month high of $101.04.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. GMS had a return on equity of 25.65% and a net margin of 5.48%. GMS’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that GMS will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total value of $1,931,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total value of $1,931,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John C. Turner, Jr. sold 6,266 shares of GMS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total value of $611,436.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,074 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,060.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,820 shares of company stock worth $3,561,192. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GMS

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of GMS by 15.3% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of GMS by 98.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 26,518 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of GMS during the first quarter valued at approximately $820,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC boosted its position in shares of GMS by 10.1% during the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 4,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of GMS by 14.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. 95.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GMS Company Profile

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.