Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Friedman Industries Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of Friedman Industries stock opened at $16.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $117.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.34. Friedman Industries has a one year low of $9.50 and a one year high of $19.52.

Friedman Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Friedman Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Friedman Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Friedman Industries

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRD. EAM Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Friedman Industries during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,165,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Friedman Industries by 20.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 137,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 23,250 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Friedman Industries in the third quarter worth approximately $339,000. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its position in shares of Friedman Industries by 9.7% in the third quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 353,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 31,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Friedman Industries in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.26% of the company’s stock.

About Friedman Industries

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.