Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) Short Interest Up 7.3% in March

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,780,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the March 15th total of 7,250,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Gates Industrial Stock Performance

Shares of Gates Industrial stock remained flat at $17.34 during trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 809,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,870,292. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.52. Gates Industrial has a 12 month low of $10.68 and a 12 month high of $17.86.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $863.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $892.40 million. Gates Industrial had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 6.52%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gates Industrial will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Gates Industrial from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Gates Industrial in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Gates Industrial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded Gates Industrial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Gates Industrial from $12.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gates Industrial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Insider Activity

In other Gates Industrial news, CEO Ivo Jurek purchased 20,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.20 per share, with a total value of $250,002.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 626,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,638,273.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Wilson S. Neely acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.24 per share, for a total transaction of $132,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 56,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,231.36. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ivo Jurek bought 20,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.20 per share, for a total transaction of $250,002.40. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 626,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,638,273.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,030,492 shares of company stock worth $12,582,402. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gates Industrial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gates Industrial in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Gates Industrial by 207.3% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gates Industrial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Gates Industrial in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Gates Industrial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gates Industrial Company Profile

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.