UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) Short Interest Up 46.0% in February

UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, an increase of 46.0% from the February 13th total of 767,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 344,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UFP Industries during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in UFP Industries by 1,683.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in UFP Industries by 357.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 531 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of UFP Industries during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of UFP Industries by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 615 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 81.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UFPI. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of UFP Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of UFP Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UFP Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.00.

UFP Industries Price Performance

Shares of UFP Industries stock opened at $107.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.62. UFP Industries has a twelve month low of $102.35 and a twelve month high of $141.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 4.88.

UFP Industries (NASDAQ:UFPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.04). UFP Industries had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that UFP Industries will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UFP Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from UFP Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. UFP Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 20.68%.

UFP Industries Company Profile

UFP Industries, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets wood and non-wood composites, and other materials in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Retail, Packaging, and Construction segments. The Retail segment offers treated lumber products, including decking, fencing, lattice, and other products; pressure-treated and fire-retardant products used primarily for outdoor decking environments; and lawn and garden products, consisting of wood and vinyl fencing options, garden beds and planters, pergolas, picnic tables, and other landscaping products.