Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atkore (NYSE:ATKR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ATKR. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Atkore from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Atkore from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Roth Capital set a $78.00 target price on shares of Atkore and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Loop Capital cut shares of Atkore from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Atkore from $78.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atkore presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.57.

Atkore Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ATKR stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $68.82. The company had a trading volume of 353,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,798. The company's fifty day moving average is $62.33 and its 200 day moving average is $74.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Atkore has a fifty-two week low of $49.92 and a fifty-two week high of $157.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 2.10.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.52. Atkore had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 25.69%. The firm had revenue of $701.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $690.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Atkore will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atkore Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This is a positive change from Atkore's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Atkore's payout ratio is 25.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 1,000 shares of Atkore stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.16, for a total transaction of $69,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,384.48. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atkore

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its stake in shares of Atkore by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 318,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,569,000 after purchasing an additional 113,263 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Atkore by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,368,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,467,000 after purchasing an additional 134,517 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Atkore by 50.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,994,000 after purchasing an additional 23,628 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Atkore by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 296,791 shares of the company's stock worth $24,767,000 after acquiring an additional 46,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Atkore by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 56,168 shares of the company's stock worth $4,687,000 after acquiring an additional 8,343 shares in the last quarter.

Atkore Company Profile

Atkore Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers conduits, cables, and installation accessories. It also designs and manufactures protection and reliability solutions for critical infrastructure, such as metal framing, mechanical pipe, perimeter security, and cable management.