The Manitowoc Company, Inc. (NYSE:MTW) Short Interest Down 21.3% in May

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. (NYSE:MTW) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 516,600 shares, a drop of 21.3% from the May 15th total of 656,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 224,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Manitowoc

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Manitowoc by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,422 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Manitowoc by 4.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 39,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Manitowoc by 4.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 436,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 18,181 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new stake in Manitowoc during the first quarter worth $245,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Manitowoc by 63.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 36,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 14,337 shares during the period. 78.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manitowoc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTW traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.90. 337,043 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,493. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Manitowoc has a 1-year low of $10.71 and a 1-year high of $19.81.

Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $495.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.93 million. Manitowoc had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 1.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Manitowoc will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MTW shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Manitowoc from $18.00 to $14.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Manitowoc from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Manitowoc from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered Manitowoc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Manitowoc from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Manitowoc currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

About Manitowoc

The Manitowoc Company, Inc provides engineered lifting solutions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It designs, manufactures, and distributes crawler-mounted lattice-boom cranes under the Manitowoc brand; a line of top-slewing and self-erecting tower cranes under the Potain brand; mobile hydraulic cranes under the Grove, Shuttlelift, and National Crane brands; and hydraulic boom trucks under the National Crane brand.