Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. $STRL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) by 26.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,274 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,079 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sterling Infrastructure were worth $6,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Infrastructure by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,131,751 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $261,129,000 after purchasing an additional 433,311 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sterling Infrastructure by 82.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 735,910 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $169,797,000 after buying an additional 333,013 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Sterling Infrastructure during the second quarter valued at $35,931,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Sterling Infrastructure by 61.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 354,372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $81,764,000 after buying an additional 135,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aperture Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sterling Infrastructure in the second quarter worth about $23,945,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.95% of the company’s stock.

Sterling Infrastructure Price Performance

Shares of Sterling Infrastructure stock opened at $437.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.34. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.34 and a 12 month high of $470.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Sterling Infrastructure declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 12th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sterling Infrastructure

In other Sterling Infrastructure news, Director Dwayne Andree Wilson sold 2,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,001,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,150. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dana C. O’brien sold 2,000 shares of Sterling Infrastructure stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $820,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,714,180. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,860 shares of company stock valued at $2,611,000. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on STRL. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Sterling Infrastructure from $355.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research downgraded Sterling Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sterling Infrastructure from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Sterling Infrastructure in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $413.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $486.00 price target on shares of Sterling Infrastructure and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $453.00.

Sterling Infrastructure Company Profile

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc (NASDAQ: STRL) is a diversified manufacturer and distributor of essential infrastructure products serving municipal, utility and industrial customers across North America. Through its network of wholly owned subsidiaries, the company designs, engineers and produces a wide range of cast and fabricated solutions tailored to the needs of the waterworks, natural gas, telecommunications, electric, traffic safety and parks & recreation markets.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses ductile iron and composite fittings, valve boxes, manhole frames and covers, water and gas meter sets, street light poles and mounting accessories, traffic sign posts with breakaway systems, bollards and related system components.