Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Short Interest Update

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 151,000 shares, an increase of 24.4% from the January 15th total of 121,400 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 63,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Pipe

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northwest Pipe by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 224,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,814,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 217,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,496,000 after purchasing an additional 57,398 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 102,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 74,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 72,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 15,690 shares during the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWPX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Pipe from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Northland Capmk cut shares of Northwest Pipe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Northwest Pipe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Northwest Pipe Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWPX traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.58. 76,947 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 73,061. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The company has a market capitalization of $521.59 million, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.05. Northwest Pipe has a 1 year low of $28.52 and a 1 year high of $57.76.

About Northwest Pipe

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.