Capital International Investors Acquires 320,870 Shares of Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. $SSD

Key Points

• Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Simpson Manufacturing by 93.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 320,870 shares and bringing its total to 663,195 shares worth about $107.1 million.
• Analysts have turned more positive on SSD, with several raising price targets; the stock now carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $214.75.
• Simpson Manufacturing reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.29.

Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. (NYSE:SSD - Free Report) by 93.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 663,195 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 320,870 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 1.60% of Simpson Manufacturing worth $107,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,843 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,830,000 after buying an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 129,685 shares of the construction company's stock worth $20,940,000 after buying an additional 56,769 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 33,651 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,635,000 after buying an additional 18,186 shares during the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Simpson Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth $2,074,000. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 123,375 shares of the construction company's stock worth $19,921,000 after buying an additional 21,889 shares during the last quarter. 93.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Simpson Manufacturing from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Simpson Manufacturing from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $205.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.75.

Simpson Manufacturing Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of SSD stock opened at $185.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $181.85 and a 200-day moving average of $179.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $151.38 and a 1-year high of $211.98.

Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $587.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $550.08 million. Simpson Manufacturing had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 14.92%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Simpson Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This is a positive change from Simpson Manufacturing's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Simpson Manufacturing's payout ratio is currently 13.60%.

Simpson Manufacturing Company Profile

Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc, through its Simpson Strong-Tie® brand, is a leading global supplier of structural building products. The company specializes in the design, testing, manufacture and supply of connectors, anchors, fasteners and lateral systems that enhance the safety and performance of wood, concrete and masonry structures. Its product portfolio also includes repair and strengthening systems, concrete reinforcement and high-performance adhesives used in residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

Founded in 1956 by Barclay Simpson in Oakland, California, Simpson Manufacturing has grown from a single product business into a diversified manufacturer with worldwide operations.

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