Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a decline of 17.3% from the January 31st total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 791,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,441,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply by 272.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 122,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,547,000 after acquiring an additional 89,222 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,014,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,011,000 after acquiring an additional 20,372 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 10,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 356,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,849,000 after acquiring an additional 49,902 shares during the period. 98.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $122.55 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from $119.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from $136.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beacon Roofing Supply currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.95.

Beacon Roofing Supply Price Performance

BECN opened at $112.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.25 and a 200-day moving average of $102.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 1.63. Beacon Roofing Supply has a 1-year low of $77.54 and a 1-year high of $121.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Beacon Roofing Supply (NASDAQ:BECN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Beacon Roofing Supply had a net margin of 3.86% and a return on equity of 25.32%. Equities analysts expect that Beacon Roofing Supply will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Beacon Roofing Supply Company Profile

Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of residential and non-residential roofing materials, and complementary building products to contractors, home builders, building owners, lumberyards, and retailers in the United States and Canada. The company offers pitched roofing and low slope roof products; gutters and sidings; building materials, such as lumber and composite, skylights and window, plywood and OSB, decking and railing, and HVAC products; and foam board, spray foam, roll, batt, mineral wool, fiberglass, and commercial insulation products, as well as radiant barriers and blown-in insulation and equipment.