Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Short Interest Up 7.4% in January

Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,100 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the December 31st total of 9,400 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Friedman Industries news, CEO Mike J. Taylor acquired 1,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.50 per share, for a total transaction of $28,710.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,134 shares in the company, valued at $2,408,943. The trade was a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have bought a total of 8,380 shares of company stock valued at $117,772 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Friedman Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its stake in Friedman Industries by 2.9% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 419,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,644,000 after buying an additional 11,689 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Friedman Industries by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 70,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 7,141 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Friedman Industries by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 53,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Friedman Industries by 0.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. 33.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Friedman Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Friedman Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN FRD opened at $15.30 on Tuesday. Friedman Industries has a 12-month low of $13.40 and a 12-month high of $19.52. The company has a market cap of $106.64 million, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.40.

Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Friedman Industries had a return on equity of 6.32% and a net margin of 1.71%. The business had revenue of $106.76 million for the quarter.

Friedman Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Friedman Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

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.