GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, an increase of 31.5% from the December 31st total of 988,600 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 395,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GMS shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on GMS from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of GMS from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Truist Financial upped their target price on GMS from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of GMS from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on GMS from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at GMS

In other news, COO George T. Hendren sold 5,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total value of $510,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 23,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,427,834.36. This trade represents a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GMS

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of GMS by 37.1% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GMS by 138.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of GMS by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of GMS by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in GMS during the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. 95.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GMS Trading Up 1.4 %

GMS traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $86.15. 274,703 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,369. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.66. GMS has a 52 week low of $77.29 and a 52 week high of $105.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.24). GMS had a net margin of 3.92% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that GMS will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.