NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NWPX. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NWPX Infrastructure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of NWPX Infrastructure from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of NWPX Infrastructure from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.00.

NWPX Infrastructure Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NWPX opened at $75.33 on Friday. NWPX Infrastructure has a 52-week low of $36.97 and a 52-week high of $83.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.98. The company has a market capitalization of $720.91 million, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92.

NWPX Infrastructure (NASDAQ:NWPX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.31. NWPX Infrastructure had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $125.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.00 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NWPX Infrastructure will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NWPX Infrastructure news, Director Michael C. Franson sold 5,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.17, for a total transaction of $331,296.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,649.25. This trade represents a 22.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Aaron Wilkins sold 1,241 shares of NWPX Infrastructure stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.10, for a total transaction of $74,584.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,571.20. This represents a 6.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,291 shares of company stock valued at $1,070,797. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NWPX Infrastructure

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWPX. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in NWPX Infrastructure by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 575,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,453,000 after purchasing an additional 12,272 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in NWPX Infrastructure by 7.1% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 537,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,768 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 14.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 323,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,280,000 after buying an additional 40,751 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 2.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 246,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,106,000 after buying an additional 6,258 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NWPX Infrastructure by 4.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,870,000 after buying an additional 11,342 shares during the period. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NWPX Infrastructure

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems. Its products are also used for hydroelectric power systems, wastewater systems, seismic resiliency, and other applications.