Short Interest in Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Declines By 29.1%

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) was the target of a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 68,200 shares, a drop of 29.1% from the November 15th total of 96,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 43,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Northwest Pipe Stock Down 1.4 %

NWPX stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.84. The company had a trading volume of 32,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,569. Northwest Pipe has a fifty-two week low of $27.89 and a fifty-two week high of $57.76. The company has a market capitalization of $524.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.02. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $50.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.66.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Megan A. Kendrick sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $44,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,039.50. This represents a 9.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,300 shares of company stock worth $102,520. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Pipe

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWPX. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Pipe during the 2nd quarter worth $529,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Pipe by 7.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 53,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after buying an additional 3,718 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Pipe by 26.7% during the second 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. Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Pipe during the second quarter worth about $743,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the period. 80.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWPX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northwest Pipe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Northland Capmk downgraded Northwest Pipe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Northland Securities lowered Northwest Pipe from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.