Barrington Research Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI)

Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Barrington Research in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 27.99% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on UTI. Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $22.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Universal Technical Institute in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.17.

Universal Technical Institute Stock Performance

Shares of UTI stock opened at $27.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.48. Universal Technical Institute has a 52 week low of $13.66 and a 52 week high of $30.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.28.

Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.22. Universal Technical Institute had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 21.25%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Universal Technical Institute will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sherrell Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.95, for a total value of $269,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,249,017.85. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George W. Brochick sold 8,000 shares of Universal Technical Institute stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.59, for a total transaction of $220,720.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $963,360.03. The trade was a 18.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,524 shares of company stock worth $2,578,450 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Universal Technical Institute by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,745,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,591,000 after purchasing an additional 44,103 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Universal Technical Institute by 194.0% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,847,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,497,000 after buying an additional 1,219,052 shares in the last quarter. Dumac Inc. purchased a new stake in Universal Technical Institute in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,236,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Universal Technical Institute by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,188,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,566,000 after buying an additional 6,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in Universal Technical Institute by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,131,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,098,000 after acquiring an additional 109,255 shares during the last quarter. 75.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Universal Technical Institute

Universal Technical Institute, Inc provides transportation, skilled trades, and healthcare education programs in the United States. The company operates in two segments, UTI and Concorde. It offers certificate, diploma, or degree programs under various brands, such as Universal Technical Institute, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, NASCAR Technical Institute, and MIAT College of Technology.