NWPX Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWPX) Short Interest Up 24.6% in March

NWPX Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWPX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 149,704 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the February 26th total of 120,109 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 112,414 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

NWPX Infrastructure Stock Down 1.0%

NWPX Infrastructure stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.74. 139,969 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,564. NWPX Infrastructure has a 52-week low of $36.97 and a 52-week high of $83.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $724.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.92.

NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.31. NWPX Infrastructure had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $125.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that NWPX Infrastructure will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NWPX Infrastructure

In related news, Director Amanda Julian sold 3,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total value of $249,986.54. Following the sale, the director owned 10,417 shares in the company, valued at $749,815.66. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Megan A. Kendrick sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $362,655.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,996 shares in the company, valued at $563,807.64. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,273 shares of company stock valued at $1,490,019 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NWPX Infrastructure

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in NWPX Infrastructure by 274.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 21,179 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NWPX Infrastructure during the 1st quarter valued at $224,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 44,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 6,510 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,870,000 after buying an additional 11,342 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on NWPX. DA Davidson increased their price objective on NWPX Infrastructure from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised NWPX Infrastructure from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research upgraded NWPX Infrastructure from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NWPX Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $90.00.

NWPX Infrastructure Company Profile

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications.