American Woodmark Co. (NASDAQ:AMWD) Short Interest Up 20.1% in December

American Woodmark Co. (NASDAQ:AMWD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 466,300 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the December 15th total of 388,100 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 154,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMWD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on American Woodmark from $119.00 to $114.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on American Woodmark from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Scott Culbreth sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.95, for a total value of $318,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,932 shares in the company, valued at $9,998,315.40. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Davis sold 1,250 shares of American Woodmark stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.79, for a total transaction of $100,987.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,985,252.67. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,223. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Woodmark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in American Woodmark by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,210,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,149,000 after buying an additional 7,496 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Woodmark by 18.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 843,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,275,000 after acquiring an additional 129,692 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Woodmark by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,227,000 after acquiring an additional 40,378 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in American Woodmark by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 483,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,189,000 after purchasing an additional 179,644 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in American Woodmark by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 330,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,891,000 after purchasing an additional 30,493 shares in the last quarter. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Woodmark Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMWD opened at $81.01 on Friday. American Woodmark has a twelve month low of $73.24 and a twelve month high of $106.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.18 and its 200-day moving average is $89.54.

American Woodmark (NASDAQ:AMWD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.29). American Woodmark had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $452.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis.

American Woodmark Company Profile

American Woodmark Corporation manufactures and distributes kitchen, bath, office, home organization, and hardware products for the remodelling and new home construction markets in the United States. The company offers made-to-order and cash and carry products. It also provides turnkey installation services to its direct builder customers through a network of eight service centers.