AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 181,631 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.12% of Core & Main worth $11,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Core & Main in the first quarter worth $27,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Core & Main in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Core & Main during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Core & Main by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Core & Main by 25.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.19% of the company’s stock.

Core & Main Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNM opened at $43.87 on Wednesday. Core & Main, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.98 and a 12-month high of $62.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.96 and a 200 day moving average of $51.97.

Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.13). Core & Main had a net margin of 5.58% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Core & Main, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Core & Main declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Core & Main

In related news, Director James G. Castellano sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $652,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,577.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNM. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Core & Main from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Core & Main in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Core & Main from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Core & Main from $60.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Core & Main from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.55.

Core & Main Company Profile

Core & Main, Inc distributes water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection products and related services to municipalities, private water companies, and professional contractors in the municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets in the United States. Its products portfolio include pipes, valves, hydrants, fittings, and other products and services; storm drainage products, such as corrugated piping systems, retention basins, inline drains, manholes, grates, geosynthetics, erosion control, and other related products; fire protection products, including fire protection pipes, and sprinkler heads and devices, as well as fabrication services; and meter products, such as smart meter products, meter sets, meter accessories, installation, software, and other services.