Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) Short Interest Update

Louisiana-Pacific Co. (NYSE:LPX) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,740,000 shares, a decline of 17.9% from the March 15th total of 2,120,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 684,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPX. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Louisiana-Pacific in the first quarter valued at about $1,379,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Louisiana-Pacific by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 12,330 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Louisiana-Pacific by 41.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,040 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Louisiana-Pacific by 301.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 81,256 shares of the building manufacturing company’s stock worth $7,474,000 after buying an additional 60,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Louisiana-Pacific Price Performance

LPX stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.14. The stock had a trading volume of 394,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,224. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Louisiana-Pacific has a 52 week low of $71.95 and a 52 week high of $122.87.

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The building manufacturing company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $681.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.75 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 25.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Louisiana-Pacific will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Louisiana-Pacific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Louisiana-Pacific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Louisiana-Pacific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LPX shares. Loop Capital cut their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Louisiana-Pacific from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Louisiana-Pacific from $123.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Louisiana-Pacific in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Louisiana-Pacific Company Profile

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products.