North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 27,000 Shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

North Growth Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR - Free Report) by 42.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Atkore worth $3,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Atkore by 445.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 491 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Atkore by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 634 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atkore by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 841 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Atkore by 63.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,002 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Atkore by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ATKR. Roth Capital upgraded Atkore to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Atkore from $105.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $102.00 target price (up from $93.00) on shares of Atkore in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm began coverage on Atkore in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of Atkore from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.17.

Atkore Stock Performance

ATKR traded down $1.81 on Wednesday, reaching $69.41. The company had a trading volume of 570,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,356. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 2.12. Atkore Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.62 and a 1 year high of $194.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $661.60 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Atkore Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atkore Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Atkore's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Atkore news, VP Daniel S. Kelly sold 13,071 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $1,251,417.54. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,635,530.72. This represents a 32.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $32,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,194,400. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,924 shares of company stock worth $1,599,200 over the last ninety days. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Atkore Company Profile

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.