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

UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during 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. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 344,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UFP Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,149,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of UFP Industries by 3,820.8% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 561,142 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,212,000 after purchasing an additional 546,830 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of UFP Industries by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,546,745 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $174,241,000 after purchasing an additional 435,155 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of UFP Industries by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 672,231 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $75,736,000 after purchasing an additional 337,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in UFP Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $30,457,000. 81.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UFP Industries Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:UFPI opened at $106.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.71. UFP Industries has a 12 month low of $102.35 and a 12 month high of $141.33.

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

UFP Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from UFP Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. UFP Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About UFP Industries

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.