Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 7,001 Shares of GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in GMS Inc. (NYSE:GMS) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,249 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.57% of GMS worth $18,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of GMS by 0.5% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 20,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in GMS by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in GMS by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in GMS by 31.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GMS by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 95.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GMS Price Performance

GMS stock opened at $77.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.44. GMS Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.14 and a 1 year high of $105.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.82 and a 200 day moving average of $89.66. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.72.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. GMS had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 3.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GMS Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GMS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of GMS from $93.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of GMS from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of GMS from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on GMS from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $86.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of GMS in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.57.

GMS Profile

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.