Barclays PLC Acquires 55,690 Shares of GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) by 374.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,580 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,690 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.18% of GMS worth $6,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in GMS by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of GMS by 37.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in GMS by 138.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of GMS by 31.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in GMS during the second quarter worth about $121,000. 95.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GMS. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of GMS from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on GMS from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of GMS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of GMS from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on GMS from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.43.

GMS Price Performance

GMS opened at $85.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.85. GMS Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.01 and a 12-month high of $105.54.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.24). GMS had a net margin of 3.92% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that GMS Inc. will post 7.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GMS

In related news, COO George T. Hendren sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.13, for a total value of $510,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,427,834.36. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

GMS Profile

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.