StockNews.com Lowers Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Separately, Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Northwest Pipe from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Northwest Pipe Price Performance

NASDAQ:NWPX opened at $43.99 on Monday. Northwest Pipe has a one year low of $25.67 and a one year high of $46.25. The stock has a market cap of $436.16 million, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 3.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.79.

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.19. Northwest Pipe had a return on equity of 7.34% and a net margin of 5.33%. The business had revenue of $129.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.76 million. Equities research analysts expect that Northwest Pipe will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Miles Brittain sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $188,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,083,450.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Northwest Pipe news, VP Megan A. Kendrick sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.37, for a total transaction of $42,370.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,725 shares in the company, valued at $454,418.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Miles Brittain sold 4,500 shares of Northwest Pipe stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $188,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,083,450.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Pipe

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWPX. Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Pipe during the second quarter worth about $743,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Pipe by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 125,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 26,532 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Northwest Pipe by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 175,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,977,000 after buying an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 58.8% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 6,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Northwest Pipe by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.63% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Pipe Company Profile

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems.