Marshall Wace LLP Grows Position in ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI) by 412.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 51,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,367 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in ATI were worth $2,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATI. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of ATI during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ATI by 294.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ATI during the second quarter valued at approximately $88,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of ATI by 46.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ATI during the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000.

ATI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATI opened at $63.91 on Friday. ATI Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.03 and a 1-year high of $68.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.52. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.04.

ATI (NYSE:ATI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. ATI had a return on equity of 23.05% and a net margin of 8.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ATI Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ATI announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at ATI

In related news, Chairman Robert S. Wetherbee sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.61, for a total transaction of $1,540,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 511,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,510,003.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ATI. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of ATI in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on ATI from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on ATI in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Northcoast Research downgraded ATI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on ATI from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.43.

About ATI

ATI Inc produces and sells specialty materials and complex components worldwide. It operates in two segments: High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) and Advanced Alloys & Solutions (AA&S). The HPMC segment produces various materials, including titanium and titanium-based alloys, nickel- and cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, metallic powder alloys, advanced powder alloys and other specialty materials, in long product forms, such as ingot, billet, bar, rod, wire, shapes and rectangles, and seamless tubes, as well as precision forgings, components, and machined parts.