Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Atkore (NYSE:ATKR)

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $102.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $93.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Atkore from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Atkore from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.80.

Atkore Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ATKR opened at $89.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 2.10. Atkore has a 1 year low of $76.01 and a 1 year high of $194.98.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.06). Atkore had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 32.14%. The business had revenue of $788.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $749.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Atkore’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atkore will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Atkore Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Atkore’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.13%.

Insider Transactions at Atkore

In other news, Director Jeri L. Isbell sold 3,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total value of $315,282.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,757.55. This trade represents a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Daniel S. Kelly sold 13,071 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $1,251,417.54. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,635,530.72. This trade represents a 32.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,924 shares of company stock valued at $1,614,975 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atkore

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atkore in the second quarter valued at $4,158,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Atkore in the 2nd quarter worth $23,306,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in Atkore by 386.9% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 9,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 7,715 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Atkore by 97.0% during the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 13,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atkore during the second quarter worth about $3,095,000.

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.