Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in GMS by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 123,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,895,000 after purchasing an additional 12,120 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of GMS by 99.5% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 31,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 15,465 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GMS during the third quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of GMS by 17.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 190,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,184,000 after buying an additional 28,311 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of GMS by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 478,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,410,000 after buying an additional 51,745 shares during the period. 95.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on GMS from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on GMS from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on GMS from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut GMS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on GMS from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.63.

GMS Price Performance

Shares of GMS stock opened at $90.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $92.89 and its 200 day moving average is $79.34. GMS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.59 and a twelve month high of $101.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 25.65% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that GMS Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GMS news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,000,465.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other GMS news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,000,465.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO George T. Hendren sold 10,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.49, for a total value of $1,018,355.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 23,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,453.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,820 shares of company stock valued at $3,561,192. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.