Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $55.23 and last traded at $55.15, with a volume of 5579 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Pipe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Northland Securities downgraded Northwest Pipe from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Northland Capmk downgraded Northwest Pipe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Northwest Pipe Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock has a market cap of $546.00 million, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.46 and a 200 day moving average of $40.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Megan A. Kendrick sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.37, for a total transaction of $42,370.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,725 shares in the company, valued at $454,418.25. The trade was a 8.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Miles Brittain sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $188,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,083,450.20. This represents a 14.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,800 shares of company stock worth $291,070. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Pipe

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 216.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 4.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 56,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 506,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,552,000 after purchasing an additional 8,924 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 120.2% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northwest Pipe by 10.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after purchasing an additional 4,365 shares in the last quarter. 80.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Northwest Pipe

Northwest Pipe Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of water-related infrastructure products in North America. It operates in two segments, Engineered Steel Pressure Pipe (SPP) and Precast Infrastructure and Engineered Systems (Precast). The SPP segment offers large-diameter and high-pressure steel pipeline systems for use in water infrastructure applications, which are primarily related to drinking water systems.