Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR) Short Interest Up 51.8% in February

Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 146,200 shares, a growth of 51.8% from the February 13th total of 96,300 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 136,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Luxfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LXFR. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Luxfer in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new stake in Luxfer in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in Luxfer in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Luxfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Luxfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.82% of the company’s stock.

Luxfer Stock Performance

LXFR stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.12. 93,355 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 134,219. Luxfer has a 1 year low of $9.26 and a 1 year high of $15.64. The company has a market cap of $324.01 million, a PE ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $103.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.50 million. Luxfer had a net margin of 2.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. On average, equities analysts expect that Luxfer will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Luxfer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. Luxfer’s payout ratio is 76.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Luxfer from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

About Luxfer

Luxfer Holdings PLC, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance materials, components, and high-pressure gas containment devices for defense and first response, healthcare, transportation, and general industrial applications. The company operates through three segments: Elektron, Gas Cylinders, and graphic Arts.