Roth Capital Upgrades Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) to “Strong-Buy”

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) was upgraded by research analysts at Roth Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ATKR. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Atkore in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Atkore from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. B. Riley downgraded Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Atkore from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 target price (up previously from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atkore presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.67.

Atkore Stock Performance

ATKR opened at $85.25 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.07. Atkore has a 1-year low of $76.01 and a 1-year high of $194.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.06). Atkore had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 32.14%. The firm had revenue of $788.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $749.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Atkore’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Atkore will post 6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Atkore news, VP Daniel S. Kelly sold 13,071 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total transaction of $1,251,417.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,635,530.72. This represents a 32.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $48,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,667,290.30. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,924 shares of company stock valued at $1,614,975 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atkore

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Atkore during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,822,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Atkore by 2.0% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Atkore by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. North Growth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Atkore by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atkore by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 66,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,027,000 after purchasing an additional 20,550 shares during the period.

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.