Short Interest in American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD) Rises By 26.7%

American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ:AMWD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,345,134 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the February 26th total of 1,061,483 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 282,449 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 9.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of American Woodmark from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of American Woodmark from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of American Woodmark from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Woodmark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.33.

Institutional Trading of American Woodmark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMWD. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in American Woodmark by 0.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,152,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in American Woodmark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 930,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,118,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in American Woodmark by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 562,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,345,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in American Woodmark by 8,028.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 408,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,041,000 after purchasing an additional 403,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Woodmark by 2,117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 400,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,727,000 after purchasing an additional 382,291 shares during the period. 95.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Woodmark Stock Performance

AMWD opened at $39.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $576.10 million, a PE ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. American Woodmark has a 1 year low of $35.51 and a 1 year high of $72.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.07.

American Woodmark (NASDAQ:AMWD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.34. American Woodmark had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 1.15%.The firm had revenue of $324.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.14 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Woodmark’s quarterly revenue was down 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

About American Woodmark

American Woodmark Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities in North America. The company designs, builds and ships cabinetry products for a broad range of residential customers, including new-home builders, professional remodelers and specialty dealers. Its portfolio encompasses framed and frameless cabinet lines, along with accessory products such as mouldings, panels and hardware components. American Woodmark’s products are sold under the American Woodmark and Waypoint Living Spaces brands through a diversified network of home centers, independent dealers and direct-to-builder channels.

Headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, American Woodmark was founded in 1980 and has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.