Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,600 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the June 30th total of 8,200 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 18,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Friedman Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN FRD opened at $16.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.33 million, a P/E ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.37. Friedman Industries has a 12-month low of $9.50 and a 12-month high of $19.52.

Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $132.23 million for the quarter. Friedman Industries had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 3.36%.

Friedman Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Friedman Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Friedman Industries

In other Friedman Industries news, CEO Mike J. Taylor acquired 1,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.33 per share, for a total transaction of $31,157.64. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,154 shares in the company, valued at $2,484,674.82. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mike J. Taylor bought 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.33 per share, for a total transaction of $31,157.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,154 shares in the company, valued at $2,484,674.82. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joel Spira bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.27 per share, with a total value of $28,540.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,512.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 16,908 shares of company stock worth $257,918 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Friedman Industries

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its stake in Friedman Industries by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 435,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after acquiring an additional 61,339 shares in the last quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its stake in Friedman Industries by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 54,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Friedman Industries by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 32,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Friedman Industries by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Friedman Industries during the 1st quarter valued at $425,000. Institutional investors own 33.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Friedman Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th.

About Friedman Industries

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.