Short Interest in Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG) Decreases By 17.9%

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 762,000 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the December 31st total of 927,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 186,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Apogee Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Apogee Enterprises by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Apogee Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $824,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apogee Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Apogee Enterprises by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 22,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after buying an additional 9,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APOG shares. Singular Research raised shares of Apogee Enterprises to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Apogee Enterprises from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apogee Enterprises from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Apogee Enterprises from $75.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Apogee Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of Apogee Enterprises stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.26. 6,443 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 334,262. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.14. Apogee Enterprises has a 52-week low of $49.58 and a 52-week high of $87.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ:APOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. Apogee Enterprises had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 23.14%. The business had revenue of $341.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Apogee Enterprises’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apogee Enterprises will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Apogee Enterprises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Apogee Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 28th. Apogee Enterprises’s payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Apogee Enterprises Company Profile

Apogee Enterprises, Inc provides architectural products and services for enclosing buildings, and glass and acrylic products used for preservation, protection, and enhanced viewing in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. The company operates in four segments: Architectural Framing Systems, Architectural Glass, Architectural Services, and Large-Scale Optical (LSO).