Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the December 31st total of 5,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gates Industrial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gates Industrial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 20,852 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gates Industrial by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 35.9% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Gates Industrial by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 33,800 shares of the company's stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Gates Industrial by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Gates Industrial Price Performance

Shares of GTES stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.56. 4,024,451 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,339,530. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Gates Industrial has a 1-year low of $12.40 and a 1-year high of $23.34.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33. Gates Industrial had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 6.43%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gates Industrial will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on GTES. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gates Industrial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on Gates Industrial from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gates Industrial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of Gates Industrial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gates Industrial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.