GMS Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GMS)

GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 1,536 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 831% compared to the typical volume of 165 put options.

GMS Stock Performance

GMS stock traded up $23.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.84. 1,836,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 432,582. GMS has a twelve month low of $65.77 and a twelve month high of $106.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

GMS (NYSE:GMS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 18th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. GMS had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GMS will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GMS. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on GMS in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital lowered their price target on GMS from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of GMS from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group set a $80.00 price objective on GMS in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of GMS from $71.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $87.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GMS news, Director Theron I. Gilliam sold 12,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.46, for a total value of $916,340.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,314,504.22. This represents a 28.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. Turner, Jr. purchased 3,650 shares of GMS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $255,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,684,960. The trade was a 5.77% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GMS

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in GMS by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 109,240 shares of the company's stock worth $9,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of GMS by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 21,152 shares of the company's stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of GMS by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 220,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,684,000 after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of GMS by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 13,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of GMS by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.28% of the company's stock.

About GMS

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.

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