Centuri Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CTRI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Centuri Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CTRI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,930,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the August 15th total of 2,780,000 shares. Currently, 17.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 602,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Fehrman acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.50 per share, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centuri

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Centuri during the second quarter valued at about $300,000. Sandia Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Centuri during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $466,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Centuri during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $657,000. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Centuri in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $880,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Centuri in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,393,000.

Centuri Price Performance

CTRI traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $16.62. 19,928 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 543,188. Centuri has a one year low of $14.47 and a one year high of $28.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Centuri (NYSE:CTRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $672.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.55 million. Centuri’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Centuri will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CTRI. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Centuri from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centuri from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Centuri in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Centuri from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Centuri from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.60.

About Centuri

Centuri Holdings, Inc operates as a utility infrastructure services company in North America. It offers gas utility services, including maintenance, repair, installation, and replacement services for natural gas local distribution utility companies with focus on the modernization of infrastructure. The company also provides electric utility services comprising design, maintenance and repair, upgrade, and expansion services for transmission and distribution infrastructure.