Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $23.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Gates Industrial traded as high as $21.85 and last traded at $21.84, with a volume of 372725 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.39.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on GTES. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Gates Industrial in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Gates Industrial from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Gates Industrial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Gates Industrial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Gates Industrial from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gates Industrial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Gates Industrial by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,008,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678,954 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gates Industrial by 799.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 29,394 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Gates Industrial during the first quarter valued at $266,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Gates Industrial by 35.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 78,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 20,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Gates Industrial by 67.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 24,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Gates Industrial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.54.

Gates Industrial announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 31st that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.