Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Invests $1.16 Million in Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC purchased 57,795 shares of Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) valued at approximately $1.16 million, increasing their stake to about 0.22% of the company.
• A director at Ennis, Walter D. Gruenes, bought 5,500 shares at an average price of $17.99, boosting his total ownership in the company by 104.90%.
• Ennis announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing an annualized payout of $1.00 and a dividend yield of 5.7%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 57,795 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,161,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management owned approximately 0.22% of Ennis at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in Ennis by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,526 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ennis by 2,050.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,902 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 4,674 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ennis by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ennis in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ennis by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Ennis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Ennis Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE EBF traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.11. The company had a trading volume of 63,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,344. Ennis, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.15 and a fifty-two week high of $25.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.39. The firm has a market cap of $467.24 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.48.

Ennis (NYSE:EBF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, June 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Ennis had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $97.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.30 million.

Ennis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Ennis's payout ratio is 65.79%.

Insider Activity at Ennis

In other Ennis news, Director Walter D. Gruenes bought 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.99 per share, with a total value of $98,945.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,266.57. The trade was a 104.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ennis Profile

Ennis, Inc manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands.