StockNews.com Downgrades GMS (NYSE:GMS) to Buy

GMS (NYSE:GMS) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GMS. Truist Financial increased their price objective on GMS from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on GMS from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays raised their price target on GMS from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on GMS from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.63.

GMS Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE GMS opened at $93.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.73. 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 $55.88 and a 12 month high of $101.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.65 and a 200-day moving average of $81.18.

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). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. GMS had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 25.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that GMS 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total transaction of $1,931,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO John C. Turner, Jr. sold 6,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total value of $611,436.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,074 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,060.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,465.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,820 shares of company stock worth $3,561,192 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in GMS by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 10,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of GMS by 1.3% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GMS by 131.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GMS by 5.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of GMS by 1.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 16,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 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.