Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 55,500 Shares of The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,500 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in The Shyft Group were worth $4,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of The Shyft Group by 301.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Shyft Group by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 564,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,081,000 after purchasing an additional 78,550 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in The Shyft Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 706,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,682 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of The Shyft Group by 1,062.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 18,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 16,888 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of The Shyft Group by 257.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 32,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHYF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson raised The Shyft Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of The Shyft Group in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

The Shyft Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:SHYF opened at $8.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.54 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90. The Shyft Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.86 and a 52 week high of $17.56. The company has a market capitalization of $280.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.21 and a beta of 1.69.

The Shyft Group (NASDAQ:SHYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.09). The Shyft Group had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 2.75%. The company had revenue of $201.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Shyft Group, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Shyft Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. The Shyft Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -222.22%.

The Shyft Group Company Profile

The Shyft Group, Inc engages in the manufacture and assembly of specialty vehicles for the commercial and recreational vehicle industries in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Fleet Vehicles and Services, and Specialty Vehicles. The Fleet Vehicles and Services segment offers commercial vehicles used in the e-commerce/last mile/parcel delivery, beverage and grocery delivery, laundry and linen, mobile retail, and trades and construction industries.