Short Interest in GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) Rises By 31.5%

GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a growth of 31.5% from the December 15th total of 988,600 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 395,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

GMS Trading Up 2.3 %

GMS opened at $84.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. GMS has a 52 week low of $77.29 and a 52 week high of $105.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.73.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. GMS had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 3.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that GMS will post 7.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GMS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of GMS from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of GMS from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on GMS from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of GMS from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on GMS from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.57.

Insider Activity at GMS

In related news, COO George T. Hendren sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total transaction of $510,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 23,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,427,834.36. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of GMS

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in GMS by 148.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 9,876 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of GMS by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 101,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,136 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of GMS by 374.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,392,000 after acquiring an additional 55,690 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of GMS by 22.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 151,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,215,000 after buying an additional 28,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in GMS by 71.5% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,298,000 after acquiring an additional 5,972 shares during the period. 95.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GMS Company Profile

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.