Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,300,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the December 15th total of 13,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNM shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Core & Main from $43.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Core & Main from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Core & Main from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Core & Main from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Core & Main from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Mark G. Whittenburg sold 1,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.29, for a total transaction of $109,142.46. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 7,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $423,908.43. The trade was a 20.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Bradford A. Cowles sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.07, for a total transaction of $2,753,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 18,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,554.61. This represents a 73.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 427,426 shares of company stock worth $22,923,825 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Core & Main

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNM. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Core & Main by 55.9% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 22,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 8,065 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Core & Main by 153.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,202,000 after acquiring an additional 76,804 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Core & Main during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Core & Main by 15.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,818,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,007,000 after acquiring an additional 238,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Core & Main by 5.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. 94.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Core & Main Price Performance

Core & Main stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. Core & Main has a 52 week low of $37.22 and a 52 week high of $62.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.97. The stock has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.04. Core & Main had a return on equity of 24.71% and a net margin of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Core & Main’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Core & Main will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Core & Main

Core & Main, Inc is a specialty distributor focused on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products, and related services. The company provides infrastructure solutions to municipalities, private water companies and professional contractors across municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets, nationwide.