Bridgewater Associates LP Increases Position in Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,760 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,398 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.21% of Atkore worth $6,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harber Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Atkore by 113.2% in the fourth quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC now owns 99,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after acquiring an additional 52,606 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Atkore by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,363,000 after purchasing an additional 5,507 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Atkore by 88.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Atkore by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 924,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,116,000 after purchasing an additional 180,160 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Atkore during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,524,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ATKR. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Atkore from $78.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Loop Capital lowered Atkore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on Atkore from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atkore currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.17.

Atkore Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ATKR opened at $58.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Atkore Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.92 and a 12-month high of $185.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 2.02.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $661.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $680.77 million. Atkore had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 12.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Atkore Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atkore Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Atkore’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $32,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,194,400. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

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.