Northern Trust Corp Acquires 32,792 Shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,624 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,792 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.11% of Atkore worth $32,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Atkore by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 398 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Atkore by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 841 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Atkore by 3,333.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Atkore by 47.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Atkore by 88.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 887 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark F. Lamps sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.16, for a total value of $69,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,270,384.48. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Atkore from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Atkore from $78.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Atkore from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Loop Capital lowered Atkore from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Atkore from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.57.

Atkore Price Performance

NYSE:ATKR traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.40. The company had a trading volume of 75,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 683,851. Atkore Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.92 and a 52-week high of $158.20. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $62.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.52. Atkore had a net margin of 12.42% and a return on equity of 25.69%. The business had revenue of $701.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $690.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Atkore Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atkore Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Atkore's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Atkore's dividend payout ratio is 25.38%.

Atkore Profile

Atkore Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers conduits, cables, and installation accessories. It also designs and manufactures protection and reliability solutions for critical infrastructure, such as metal framing, mechanical pipe, perimeter security, and cable management.