GMS (NYSE:GMS) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $73.24, but opened at $83.48. GMS shares last traded at $81.78, with a volume of 419,475 shares traded.

The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. GMS had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GMS. DA Davidson cut their price objective on GMS from $94.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of GMS in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $93.00 price target on GMS in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital dropped their target price on GMS from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $80.00 price target on GMS in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, GMS has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John C. Turner, Jr. purchased 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $255,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,684,960. This trade represents a 5.77% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Theron I. Gilliam sold 12,474 shares of GMS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.46, for a total value of $916,340.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,314,504.22. This represents a 28.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GMS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GMS. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of GMS by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 109,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in GMS by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 21,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,794,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in GMS by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 220,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,684,000 after buying an additional 7,001 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in GMS by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after buying an additional 13,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in GMS by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.28% of the company’s stock.

GMS Trading Up 10.8%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

About GMS

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.