UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) Short Interest Up 46.0% in February

UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, an increase of 46.0% from the February 13th total of 767,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 344,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UFPI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered UFP Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of UFP Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UFP Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in UFP Industries by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,751,264 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $197,280,000 after purchasing an additional 115,687 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in UFP Industries by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,546,745 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $174,241,000 after purchasing an additional 435,155 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in UFP Industries by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,528,221 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $200,553,000 after purchasing an additional 14,857 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in UFP Industries by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,287,833 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $145,074,000 after purchasing an additional 61,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of UFP Industries by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,111,147 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $125,171,000 after acquiring an additional 98,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.81% of the company’s stock.

UFP Industries Trading Up 2.0 %

UFPI stock opened at $106.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.52. UFP Industries has a twelve month low of $102.35 and a twelve month high of $141.33. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 4.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.43 and a 200-day moving average of $121.70.

UFP Industries (NASDAQ:UFPI) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. UFP Industries had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 6.23%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UFP Industries will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

UFP Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from UFP Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. UFP Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.68%.

UFP Industries Company Profile

UFP Industries, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets wood and non-wood composites, and other materials in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Retail, Packaging, and Construction segments. The Retail segment offers treated lumber products, including decking, fencing, lattice, and other products; pressure-treated and fire-retardant products used primarily for outdoor decking environments; and lawn and garden products, consisting of wood and vinyl fencing options, garden beds and planters, pergolas, picnic tables, and other landscaping products.