Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCP) Short Interest Up 23.3% in March

Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBCP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 596,200 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the February 28th total of 483,500 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 197,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Concrete Pumping Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BBCP traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.45. The company had a trading volume of 234,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,225. Concrete Pumping has a 12 month low of $4.78 and a 12 month high of $9.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $289.13 million, a P/E ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $6.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.49.

Concrete Pumping (NASDAQ:BBCP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Concrete Pumping had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 3.81%. As a group, analysts predict that Concrete Pumping will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Concrete Pumping Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBCP. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Concrete Pumping from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Concrete Pumping from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bruce F. Young bought 49,507 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.19 per share, for a total transaction of $256,941.33. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,722,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,940,408.18. The trade was a 2.96 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 26.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Concrete Pumping

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Concrete Pumping by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 24,993 shares of the company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Concrete Pumping by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 243,100 shares of the company's stock worth $1,619,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of Concrete Pumping by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 25,906 shares of the company's stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Concrete Pumping by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Concrete Pumping by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 103,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the period. 34.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Concrete Pumping

Concrete Pumping Holdings, Inc provides concrete pumping and waste management services in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company offers concrete pumping services to general contractors and concrete finishing companies in the commercial, infrastructure, and residential sectors under the Brundage-Bone and Capital Pumping brands; and industrial cleanup and containment services primarily to customers in the construction industry under the Eco-Pan brand.