DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of DNOW from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

DNOW Stock Performance

NYSE:DNOW opened at $17.52 on Wednesday. DNOW has a one year low of $11.42 and a one year high of $18.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.52.

DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.14. DNOW had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 9.04%. On average, research analysts predict that DNOW will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DNOW declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 24th that permits the company to repurchase $160.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 10% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other DNOW news, Director Paul M. Coppinger sold 26,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.35, for a total transaction of $401,955.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,318.80. This represents a 31.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DNOW

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in DNOW by 15.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 277,298 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,951,000 after acquiring an additional 37,178 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in DNOW by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,560 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in DNOW by 1.9% during the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,622,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,908,000 after acquiring an additional 48,900 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in DNOW by 3.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,731,485 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $22,388,000 after acquiring an additional 54,660 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in DNOW by 10.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 612,638 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,921,000 after acquiring an additional 56,787 shares during the period. 97.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DNOW Company Profile

DNOW Inc distributes downstream energy and industrial products for petroleum refining, chemical processing, LNG terminals, power generation utilities, and customer on-site locations in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides consumable maintenance, repair, and operating supplies; pipes, manual and automated valves, fittings, flanges, gaskets, fasteners, electrical instrumentations, artificial lift, pumping solutions, valve actuation and modular process, and measurement and control equipment; and mill supplies, tools, safety supplies, and personal protective equipment, as well as artificial lift systems, coatings, and miscellaneous expendable items.