Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Stock Position Lowered by First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. cut its holdings in Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 285,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,727 shares during the period. Northwest Pipe accounts for about 3.7% of First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Pipe were worth $13,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWPX. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Pipe in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Northwest Pipe in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Pipe in the fourth quarter valued at about $72,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Northwest Pipe during the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Pipe during the fourth quarter valued at about $121,000. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Pipe Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWPX opened at $41.74 on Wednesday. Northwest Pipe has a 52 week low of $31.16 and a 52 week high of $57.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.93. The company has a market cap of $414.69 million, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Pipe news, CFO Aaron Wilkins sold 1,000 shares of Northwest Pipe stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $44,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,548. The trade was a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of Northwest Pipe to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut Northwest Pipe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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.

Northwest Pipe Profile

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.