Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. $ONT Holdings Decreased by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its Montrose Environmental Group stake by 10% in Q4, selling 87,964 shares and ending with 787,535 shares valued at about $19.6 million.
• The stock was down 4.8% to $15.83, near its 52-week low of $14.13, while the company’s market cap stood at roughly $572 million.
• Montrose reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.24 estimate and revenue of $193.27 million, but analysts remain cautious with a consensus rating of “Hold.”

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. (NYSE:ONT - Free Report) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 787,535 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,964 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 2.23% of Montrose Environmental Group worth $19,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,764,395 shares of the company's stock worth $60,513,000 after buying an additional 68,713 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,986,620 shares of the company's stock worth $49,328,000 after buying an additional 57,437 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 3,407.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,282,769 shares of the company's stock worth $28,080,000 after buying an additional 1,246,199 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 704,702 shares of the company's stock worth $17,498,000 after buying an additional 43,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Montrose Environmental Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 638,630 shares of the company's stock worth $15,857,000 after buying an additional 22,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.87% of the company's stock.

Montrose Environmental Group Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of ONT stock opened at $15.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.13 and a 1 year high of $32.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $572.08 million, a PE ratio of 316.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.83.

Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE:ONT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. Montrose Environmental Group had a return on equity of 5.61% and a net margin of 0.71%.The company had revenue of $193.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.90) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Montrose Environmental Group, Inc. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Montrose Environmental Group from $40.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research downgraded Montrose Environmental Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Montrose Environmental Group from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Montrose Environmental Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J Thomas Presby sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.87, for a total value of $288,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,666.18. This represents a 13.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Vijay Manthripragada sold 46,121 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.41, for a total value of $1,171,934.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 236,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,016,783.08. This trade represents a 16.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,527 shares of company stock valued at $2,908,583. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Montrose Environmental Group Profile

Montrose Environmental Group NYSE: MEG is a global provider of environmental technical and monitoring services, delivering solutions for site assessment, remediation, compliance and long-term environmental stewardship. The company serves a broad range of industries, including energy, manufacturing, chemicals, mining and government agencies, supporting clients with risk management strategies, regulatory permitting and environmental permitting.

Montrose's core offerings encompass environmental consulting, engineering design, field sampling and laboratory analysis, plus innovative digital monitoring platforms.

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