Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,780,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the March 15th total of 7,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gates Industrial news, major shareholder Blackstone Inc. sold 24,276,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $292,284,244.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 107,324 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,180.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Neil P. Simpkins acquired 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.20 per share, with a total value of $12,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,200,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Blackstone Inc. sold 24,276,100 shares of Gates Industrial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total transaction of $292,284,244.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,180.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,030,492 shares of company stock worth $12,582,402. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gates Industrial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Gates Industrial in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Gates Industrial by 207.3% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gates Industrial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Gates Industrial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Gates Industrial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gates Industrial Stock Performance

Gates Industrial stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,681,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,918. Gates Industrial has a 1-year low of $10.68 and a 1-year high of $17.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.52. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 1.57.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.10. Gates Industrial had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $863.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $892.40 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gates Industrial will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Gates Industrial from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gates Industrial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Gates Industrial from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Gates Industrial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Gates Industrial from $12.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gates Industrial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Gates Industrial Company Profile

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.