NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

NWPX Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWPX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $77.60, but opened at $80.40. NWPX Infrastructure shares last traded at $78.7310, with a volume of 9,830 shares traded.

NWPX has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on NWPX Infrastructure from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NWPX Infrastructure from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NWPX Infrastructure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $90.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael C. Franson sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.17, for a total transaction of $331,296.02. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,649.25. This trade represents a 22.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aaron Wilkins sold 1,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.10, for a total value of $74,584.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,571.20. This represents a 6.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 11,791 shares of company stock worth $708,142 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NWPX Infrastructure

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWPX. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,075,000. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 106.9% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 143,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,971,000 after buying an additional 74,158 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 527.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,432,000 after buying an additional 59,623 shares during the period. Congruence Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,508,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in NWPX Infrastructure by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 323,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,280,000 after acquiring an additional 40,751 shares during the period. 80.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NWPX Infrastructure Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.78, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.04 and its 200 day moving average is $60.63. The company has a market cap of $783.50 million, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.92.

NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.31. NWPX Infrastructure had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The business had revenue of $125.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.00 million. As a group, research analysts predict that NWPX Infrastructure, Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About NWPX Infrastructure

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. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications.