Atlas Copco AB (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) Short Interest Up 1,255.2% in March

Atlas Copco AB (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 283,744 shares, an increase of 1,255.2% from the March 15th total of 20,938 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 778,570 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Atlas Copco Stock Performance

Shares of ATLKY stock opened at $19.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Atlas Copco has a 52-week low of $14.89 and a 52-week high of $22.05.

Atlas Copco (OTCMKTS:ATLKY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Atlas Copco had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 24.94%. On average, equities analysts expect that Atlas Copco will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ATLKY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Atlas Copco from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Atlas Copco in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Atlas Copco in a research report on Thursday. Pareto Securities cut Atlas Copco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Atlas Copco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Atlas Copco

Atlas Copco is a Sweden-based industrial group that develops, manufactures and services equipment and solutions for professional customers in a broad range of industries. The company’s core activities center on compressed air and gas systems, vacuum solutions, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools and assembly systems, and power and flow equipment. Products and services span new-equipment sales, aftermarket parts, maintenance and technical support aimed at improving productivity, energy efficiency and safety for industrial operations.

Key product categories include stationary and portable air compressors, air treatment and gas generation systems, industrial vacuum pumps, generators and light towers, drilling rigs and rock excavation equipment for mining and construction, as well as electric and pneumatic tools and automated assembly systems for manufacturing.