Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UFP Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:UFPI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,756 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UFPI. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UFP Industries by 716.7% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,561,285 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $159,876,000 after buying an additional 1,370,105 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in UFP Industries by 93.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 679,139 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $69,544,000 after purchasing an additional 327,220 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in UFP Industries by 31.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 749,259 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $76,724,000 after purchasing an additional 179,323 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of UFP Industries by 133.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 188,154 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,623,000 after buying an additional 107,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UFP Industries by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 540,020 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,298,000 after buying an additional 77,828 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UFPI shares. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of UFP Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UFP Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Benchmark increased their price objective on UFP Industries from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on UFP Industries from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UFP Industries news, CEO Matthew J. Missad sold 5,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.05, for a total transaction of $572,302.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 363,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,437,558.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UFP Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ UFPI opened at $114.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.13. UFP Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.01 and a 12-month high of $128.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

UFP Industries (NASDAQ:UFPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The construction company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. UFP Industries had a return on equity of 17.86% and a net margin of 7.12%. UFP Industries’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that UFP Industries, Inc. will post 7.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UFP Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is an increase from UFP Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. UFP Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.38%.

UFP Industries Profile

UFP Industries, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets wood and non-wood composites, and other materials in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Retail, Packaging, and Construction segments. The Retail segment offers treated lumber products, including decking, fencing, lattice, and other products; pressure-treated and fire-retardant products used primarily for outdoor decking environments; and lawn and garden products, consisting of wood and vinyl fencing options, garden beds and planters, pergolas, picnic tables, and other landscaping products.