Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys Shares of 5,366 Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. $SSD

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. (NYSE:SSD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,366 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Simpson Manufacturing by 51.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,093 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Simpson Manufacturing by 11.8% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing in the 1st quarter valued at about $531,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 212,164 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,327,000 after purchasing an additional 64,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Simpson Manufacturing by 11.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 121,099 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,022,000 after buying an additional 12,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SSD. Wall Street Zen lowered Simpson Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Simpson Manufacturing from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Simpson Manufacturing from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $205.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simpson Manufacturing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Simpson Manufacturing Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SSD opened at $189.11 on Friday. Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.32 and a 12-month high of $213.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $192.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.64. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $587.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.08 million. Simpson Manufacturing had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Simpson Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Simpson Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Simpson Manufacturing’s payout ratio is presently 14.07%.

About Simpson Manufacturing

Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc, through its Simpson Strong-Tie® brand, is a leading global supplier of structural building products. The company specializes in the design, testing, manufacture and supply of connectors, anchors, fasteners and lateral systems that enhance the safety and performance of wood, concrete and masonry structures. Its product portfolio also includes repair and strengthening systems, concrete reinforcement and high-performance adhesives used in residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

Founded in 1956 by Barclay Simpson in Oakland, California, Simpson Manufacturing has grown from a single product business into a diversified manufacturer with worldwide operations.