ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI) Short Interest Up 14.4% in December

ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,940,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the November 30th total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ATI shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of ATI from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ATI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on ATI from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on ATI from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tina Killough Busch sold 2,598 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction of $155,931.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,553 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,611.06. This represents a 10.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Robert S. Wetherbee sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $1,555,750.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 486,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,271,347.89. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,598 shares of company stock worth $3,186,432 in the last 90 days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ATI

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ATI by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ATI by 0.8% in the second quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 34,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of ATI by 12.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,362 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of ATI by 6.1% during the third quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 7,125 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of ATI by 86.4% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 889 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter.

ATI Trading Up 0.3 %

ATI stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.04. 988,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,450,443. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. ATI has a 52 week low of $38.04 and a 52 week high of $68.92.

ATI (NYSE:ATI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.06). ATI had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 21.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. ATI's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that ATI will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ATI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $700.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

ATI Company Profile

ATI Inc produces and sells specialty materials and complex components worldwide. It operates in two segments: High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) and Advanced Alloys & Solutions (AA&S). The HPMC segment produces various materials, including titanium and titanium-based alloys, nickel- and cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, metallic powder alloys, advanced powder alloys and other specialty materials, in long product forms, such as ingot, billet, bar, rod, wire, shapes and rectangles, and seamless tubes, as well as precision forgings, components, and machined parts.