Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

NWPX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Northwest Pipe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Northwest Pipe from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Northwest Pipe Price Performance

Shares of NWPX stock opened at $54.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.35. Northwest Pipe has a 52-week low of $25.81 and a 52-week high of $55.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 3.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $537.01 million, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.98.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Miles Brittain sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,083,450.20. The trade was a 14.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Megan A. Kendrick sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.37, for a total value of $42,370.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,725 shares in the company, valued at $454,418.25. This trade represents a 8.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,800 shares of company stock worth $291,070. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Pipe

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Northwest Pipe by 216.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 5,954 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Pipe by 9.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Pipe by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 56,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Pipe by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 506,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,552,000 after purchasing an additional 8,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Northwest Pipe by 120.2% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.