Monro (NASDAQ:MNRO) Upgraded at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Monro (NASDAQ:MNRO) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $18.00 target price on the auto parts company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $21.00.

MNRO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Monro from $27.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Monro from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Monro Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of Monro stock opened at $15.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.80 and a 200-day moving average of $23.42. Monro has a 52-week low of $13.83 and a 52-week high of $31.53. The stock has a market cap of $457.32 million, a PE ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Monro (NASDAQ:MNRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The auto parts company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.12). Monro had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 3.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Monro will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Monro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.33%. Monro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Monro by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,533 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after buying an additional 9,839 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Monro in the third quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Monro by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,666 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Monro by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,344,978 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $38,816,000 after purchasing an additional 11,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Monro by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,606,868 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $46,374,000 after purchasing an additional 273,265 shares during the period.

About Monro

Monro, Inc provides automotive undercar repair, and tire sales and services in the United States. It offers replacement tires and tire related services, automotive undercar repair services, and routine maintenance services primarily to passenger cars, light trucks, and vans. The company also provides other products and services for brakes; mufflers and exhaust systems; and steering, drive train, suspension, and wheel alignment.