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

Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of 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. Based on an average trading volume of 136,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Luxfer

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Luxfer by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,725,821 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,299,000 after purchasing an additional 43,559 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Luxfer by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,854,220 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,272,000 after buying an additional 603,954 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Luxfer by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,624,061 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,259,000 after acquiring an additional 275,669 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Luxfer by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 785,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,282,000 after acquiring an additional 115,623 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Luxfer by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 670,564 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,778,000 after purchasing an additional 84,097 shares during the period. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Luxfer from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Luxfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LXFR traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.14. 82,971 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,637. Luxfer has a twelve month low of $9.26 and a twelve month high of $15.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $13.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $324.54 million, a P/E ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.93.

Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $103.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.50 million. Luxfer had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 2.37%. As a group, analysts forecast that Luxfer will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Luxfer Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. Luxfer's payout ratio is presently 76.47%.

Luxfer Company Profile

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.