Traders Buy High Volume of Gates Industrial Put Options (NYSE:GTES)

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC (NYSE:GTES) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 6,002 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 142% compared to the average daily volume of 2,484 put options.

Insider Transactions at Gates Industrial

In other news, CFO Lawrence B. Mallard sold 22,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.77, for a total value of $505,220.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,627 shares in the company, valued at $4,044,566.79. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gates Industrial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Gates Industrial in the 2nd quarter valued at $319,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gates Industrial by 15.7% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 179,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 24,356 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,133,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,105,000 after purchasing an additional 22,586 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gates Industrial in the 1st quarter worth about $9,781,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Gates Industrial by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 84,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 11,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Gates Industrial Stock Down 1.9%

GTES stock opened at $21.91 on Friday. Gates Industrial has a 1 year low of $14.70 and a 1 year high of $26.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.82. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08 and a beta of 1.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GTES shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Gates Industrial in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Gates Industrial from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Gates Industrial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Gates Industrial from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Gates Industrial from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.27.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.