Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) Short Interest Up 76.4% in March

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 100,000 shares, a growth of 76.4% from the March 15th total of 56,700 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 29,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Preformed Line Products Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of PLPC opened at $136.91 on Friday. Preformed Line Products has a 1 year low of $109.01 and a 1 year high of $154.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.30. The firm has a market cap of $676.47 million, a P/E ratio of 20.56 and a beta of 0.65.

Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ:PLPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $167.12 million during the quarter. Preformed Line Products had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 7.88%.

Preformed Line Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Preformed Line Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Preformed Line Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLPC. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in Preformed Line Products by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 9,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Preformed Line Products by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Preformed Line Products by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Preformed Line Products by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Preformed Line Products by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 41,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Preformed Line Products from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th.

About Preformed Line Products

Preformed Line Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products and systems that are used in the construction and maintenance of overhead, ground-mounted, and underground networks for the energy, telecommunication, cable, data communication, and other industries. The company offers optical ground wire products to support, protect, terminate, and splice transmission and distribution lines, as well as bolted, welded, and compressed connectors for substations; and string hardware products, polymer insulators, wildlife protection, substation fittings, and motion control devices.