North Star Investment Management Corp. Takes $1.74 Million Position in NPK International Inc. $NPKI

North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in NPK International Inc. (NYSE:NPKI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,739,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned about 0.14% of NPK International as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NPKI. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in NPK International by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 19,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,133 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in NPK International by 30.8% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,899,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,007,000 after buying an additional 683,116 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NPK International during the first quarter worth approximately $4,831,000. XML Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of NPK International in the first quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of NPK International by 143.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 95,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 56,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NPK International

In related news, CFO Gregg Piontek sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.51, for a total value of $507,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 834,326 shares in the company, valued at $12,106,070.26. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Lanigan sold 167,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.43, for a total value of $2,415,221.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,306.57. This represents a 39.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 238,159 shares of company stock worth $3,454,567. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NPKI shares. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of NPK International in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NPK International from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.17.

NPK International Trading Up 1.8%

NPKI opened at $15.88 on Tuesday. NPK International Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.17 and a 1-year high of $16.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.23.

NPK International (NYSE:NPKI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. NPK International had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $75.07 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NPK International Inc. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About NPK International

NPK International, Inc (NYSE: NPKI) is a specialty chemical distributor supplying a broad range of industrial and performance materials across diverse end-markets. Its product portfolio includes acetic acid and derivatives, alcohols, ketones, esters, glycol ethers, glycols, specialty solvents, select inorganic chemicals and crop-protection intermediates. These materials serve industries such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, oil and gas, personal care, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and water treatment.

The company places a strong emphasis on supply-chain security and technical service, maintaining warehousing, logistics support and laboratory capabilities at its regional distribution centers.