Traders Purchase High Volume of Gates Industrial Put Options (NYSE:GTES)

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,194 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 293% compared to the average daily volume of 813 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Fredrik J. Eliasson bought 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.56 per share, for a total transaction of $1,173,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 188,452 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,121.12. This trade represents a 46.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in Gates Industrial by 187.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 2,968.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Gates Industrial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Gates Industrial by 178.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gates Industrial by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Gates Industrial Stock Performance

NYSE:GTES opened at $19.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Gates Industrial has a 1-year low of $15.14 and a 1-year high of $23.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.85 and a 200 day moving average of $20.02.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.33. Gates Industrial had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 9.75%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gates Industrial will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Gates Industrial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Gates Industrial from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Gates Industrial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Gates Industrial from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.11.

About Gates Industrial

Gates Industrial Corporation PLC designs and manufactures power transmission equipment. Its products serves harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners and virtually every form of transportation.