GMS (NYSE:GMS) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GMS (NYSE:GMS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on GMS. Barclays increased their target price on GMS from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of GMS from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of GMS from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on GMS from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on GMS from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GMS currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $89.63.

GMS Stock Performance

GMS stock opened at $92.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. GMS has a 12-month low of $54.99 and a 12-month high of $101.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 1.73.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.01). GMS had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 25.65%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that GMS will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total value of $1,931,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other GMS news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total value of $1,931,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO George T. Hendren sold 10,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.49, for a total transaction of $1,018,355.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,453.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,820 shares of company stock worth $3,561,192. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GMS

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in GMS by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,250,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,068,000 after purchasing an additional 456,692 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of GMS by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 270,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,300,000 after buying an additional 99,612 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of GMS by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 611,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,430,000 after acquiring an additional 79,792 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of GMS by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,971,000 after acquiring an additional 79,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in GMS by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,018,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,967,000 after acquiring an additional 76,417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.28% of the company’s stock.

About GMS

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.