UBS Group AG Grows Stock Holdings in NPK International Inc. $NPKI

UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of NPK International Inc. (NYSE:NPKI) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 288,385 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,667 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in NPK International were worth $3,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in NPK International during the second quarter valued at $51,903,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NPK International by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,750,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,725,000 after purchasing an additional 19,663 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in NPK International during the second quarter valued at $25,341,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in NPK International by 13.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,971,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,603,000 after purchasing an additional 344,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conversant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NPK International during the second quarter valued at $23,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

NPK International Trading Down 0.2%

NPKI stock opened at $15.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. NPK International Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.78 and a twelve month high of $16.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.72.

NPK International (NYSE:NPKI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. NPK International had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $75.07 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that NPK International Inc. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NPKI shares. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NPK International in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NPK International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NPK International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NPK International news, Director Michael A. Lewis sold 2,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.30, for a total transaction of $30,798.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 129,320 shares in the company, valued at $1,978,596. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Gregg Piontek sold 108,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.07, for a total transaction of $1,527,861.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 884,326 shares in the company, valued at $12,442,466.82. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 161,603 shares of company stock worth $2,305,670 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

NPK International Profile

NPK International, Inc (NYSE: NPKI) is a specialty chemical distributor supplying a broad range of industrial and performance materials across diverse end-markets. Its product portfolio includes acetic acid and derivatives, alcohols, ketones, esters, glycol ethers, glycols, specialty solvents, select inorganic chemicals and crop-protection intermediates. These materials serve industries such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, oil and gas, personal care, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and water treatment.

The company places a strong emphasis on supply-chain security and technical service, maintaining warehousing, logistics support and laboratory capabilities at its regional distribution centers.