Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,100 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the December 15th total of 9,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Friedman Industries

In other news, CEO Mike J. Taylor acquired 1,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.50 per share, for a total transaction of $28,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,408,943. This represents a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired 7,180 shares of company stock valued at $100,655 in the last quarter. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Friedman Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 2.9% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 419,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,644,000 after acquiring an additional 11,689 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 11.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 70,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 7,141 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 0.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 361,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the period. 33.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Friedman Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSEAMERICAN:FRD opened at $13.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.23 million, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 1.41. Friedman Industries has a twelve month low of $13.40 and a twelve month high of $19.52.

Friedman Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Friedman Industries’s payout ratio is 14.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Friedman Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Friedman Industries Company Profile

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.