Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Short Interest Down 12.1% in February

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 132,800 shares, a drop of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 151,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 65,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Northwest Pipe Price Performance

Shares of NWPX stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.51. 45,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 80,706. Northwest Pipe has a 52-week low of $31.16 and a 52-week high of $57.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $411.70 million, a PE ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.64 and a 200 day moving average of $48.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sidoti raised Northwest Pipe to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered Northwest Pipe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Northwest Pipe from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Pipe

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWPX. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Northwest Pipe by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 808,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,029,000 after buying an additional 43,659 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Northwest Pipe by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 224,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,814,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Northwest Pipe by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 217,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,496,000 after acquiring an additional 57,398 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 116,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,636,000 after acquiring an additional 49,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Northwest Pipe by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 102,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Pipe

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.