UBS Group AG Sells 5,200 Shares of Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. $SSD

UBS Group AG reduced its stake in Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. (NYSE:SSD) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,911 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.11% of Simpson Manufacturing worth $7,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,843 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,830,000 after purchasing an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Simpson Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth $2,074,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Simpson Manufacturing by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 33,651 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,635,000 after buying an additional 18,186 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new stake in Simpson Manufacturing during the 3rd quarter worth $12,211,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Simpson Manufacturing by 101.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 172,813 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,939,000 after buying an additional 87,135 shares during the period. 93.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Simpson Manufacturing from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Simpson Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Stephens raised their price objective on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Simpson Manufacturing from $205.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simpson Manufacturing has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.75.

Simpson Manufacturing Stock Performance

SSD opened at $178.13 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $178.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.10. Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.38 and a 1 year high of $211.98. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.02.

Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.29. Simpson Manufacturing had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 14.92%.The firm had revenue of $587.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. will post 9.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simpson Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Simpson Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Simpson Manufacturing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.60%.

Simpson Manufacturing Profile

Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc, through its Simpson Strong-Tie® brand, is a leading global supplier of structural building products. The company specializes in the design, testing, manufacture and supply of connectors, anchors, fasteners and lateral systems that enhance the safety and performance of wood, concrete and masonry structures. Its product portfolio also includes repair and strengthening systems, concrete reinforcement and high-performance adhesives used in residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

Founded in 1956 by Barclay Simpson in Oakland, California, Simpson Manufacturing has grown from a single product business into a diversified manufacturer with worldwide operations.