Short Interest in Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) Increases By 7.0%

Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,350,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the August 31st total of 8,740,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Core & Main Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE CNM opened at $43.87 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.04. Core & Main has a 52 week low of $27.98 and a 52 week high of $62.15.

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.13). Core & Main had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 5.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Core & Main’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Core & Main will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Core & Main declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Core & Main

In other Core & Main news, Director James G. Castellano sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $652,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,577.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core & Main

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Core & Main during the 4th quarter worth about $558,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Core & Main by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 4,909 shares during the period. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Core & Main during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Core & Main during the fourth quarter worth $1,331,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Core & Main in the fourth quarter valued at $3,181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Core & Main from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Core & Main from $64.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on Core & Main from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Core & Main from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Core & Main in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Core & Main has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.55.

About Core & Main

Core & Main, Inc distributes water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection products and related services to municipalities, private water companies, and professional contractors in the municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets in the United States. Its products portfolio include pipes, valves, hydrants, fittings, and other products and services; storm drainage products, such as corrugated piping systems, retention basins, inline drains, manholes, grates, geosynthetics, erosion control, and other related products; fire protection products, including fire protection pipes, and sprinkler heads and devices, as well as fabrication services; and meter products, such as smart meter products, meter sets, meter accessories, installation, software, and other services.