Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) Short Interest Up 8.4% in December

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the December 15th total of 5,600,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GTES. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Gates Industrial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on Gates Industrial from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Gates Industrial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gates Industrial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Gates Industrial Trading Up 0.9 %

Gates Industrial stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $20.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,637,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,881,841. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.84. Gates Industrial has a twelve month low of $12.40 and a twelve month high of $23.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68 and a beta of 1.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gates Industrial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTES. State Street Corp lifted its position in Gates Industrial by 112.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,523,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,485,000 after buying an additional 3,459,450 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Gates Industrial by 141.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,213,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466,543 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,829,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,277 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gates Industrial by 156.8% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,665,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Gates Industrial by 45.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,032,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,763,000 after buying an additional 1,268,407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.