Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE:TREX) Short Interest Up 29.3% in December

Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE:TREX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, a growth of 29.3% from the November 30th total of 4,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on TREX. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Trex from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Trex from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Trex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Trex from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Trex from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Trex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.94.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Trex by 33.2% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,076,408 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $271,407,000 after buying an additional 1,015,516 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Trex by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,183,444 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $211,954,000 after acquiring an additional 37,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Trex by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,873,455 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $124,766,000 after acquiring an additional 35,039 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Trex by 7.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,843,376 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $136,631,000 after purchasing an additional 122,658 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Trex by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,592,533 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $106,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,616 shares in the last quarter. 95.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trex Stock Performance

TREX opened at $69.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.05. Trex has a 52-week low of $58.68 and a 52-week high of $101.91.

Trex (NYSE:TREX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The construction company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. Trex had a net margin of 20.23% and a return on equity of 28.89%. The business had revenue of $233.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Trex will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Trex

Trex Company, Inc manufactures and distributes composite decking, railing, and outdoor living products and accessories for residential and commercial markets in the United States. It offers decking products and accessories under the names Trex Transcend, Trex Select, Trex Signature, Trex Transcend Lineage, and Trex Enhance for protection against fading, staining, mold, and scratching; Trex Hideaway, a hidden fastening system; and Trex DeckLighting, a LED dimmable deck lighting for use on posts, floors, and steps.