DXP Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXPE) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell 16.3% in March to 318,312 shares (about 2.7% of shares short), leaving a short-interest ratio of 1.6 days.
• Shares traded up 5.4% to $159.37 on Friday with above-average volume; the company has a market cap of $2.47 billion and a P/E of 29.62.
• DXP beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.39 vs. $0.91 expected; revenue $527.4M vs. $499M) and has seen analyst upgrades to a consensus "Buy" with an average target of $154.

DXP Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXPE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 318,312 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the March 15th total of 380,321 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 201,108 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company's shares are short sold.

DXP Enterprises Trading Up 5.4%

DXP Enterprises stock traded up $8.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $159.37. The company had a trading volume of 166,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.39. DXP Enterprises has a 1 year low of $75.58 and a 1 year high of $171.70.

DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ:DXPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $527.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $499.00 million. DXP Enterprises had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 18.83%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that DXP Enterprises will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other DXP Enterprises news, Director Joseph R. Mannes sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.95, for a total transaction of $206,925.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,964 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,333.80. This represents a 9.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 22.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DXP Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in DXP Enterprises by 29.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,071 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of DXP Enterprises by 661.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,956 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,608,000 after purchasing an additional 112,021 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in DXP Enterprises by 433.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 58,954 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,850,000 after buying an additional 47,909 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in DXP Enterprises by 9.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 67,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,874,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in DXP Enterprises by 19.3% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,699 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DXPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised DXP Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Zacks Research upgraded DXP Enterprises from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of DXP Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $154.00 price objective on shares of DXP Enterprises in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $154.00.

DXP Enterprises Company Profile

DXP Enterprises, Inc is a Houston, Texas–based industrial products and services distributor serving customers across North America. The company provides a broad portfolio of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies, including fluid power components, safety products, mechanical power transmission parts, and instrumentation. DXP's product offering spans well-recognized private brands as well as equipment and parts from leading global manufacturers, enabling clients in energy, heavy industrial and manufacturing sectors to source critical components from a single supplier.

Through its network of service centers and specialized repair facilities, DXP delivers inventory management programs, turnkey fluid power rebuilds and custom assembly solutions.

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