Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) Short Interest Update

Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:BECN) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 980,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the February 28th total of 768,100 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Beacon Roofing Supply Price Performance

Shares of BECN opened at $123.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $118.95 and its 200-day moving average is $106.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 1.63. Beacon Roofing Supply has a fifty-two week low of $77.54 and a fifty-two week high of $123.90.

Beacon Roofing Supply (NASDAQ:BECN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.01). Beacon Roofing Supply had a return on equity of 25.32% and a net margin of 3.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Beacon Roofing Supply will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from $136.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $122.55 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Beacon Roofing Supply in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Beacon Roofing Supply from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Beacon Roofing Supply from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $124.35 in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.10.

Institutional Trading of Beacon Roofing Supply

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Beacon Roofing Supply in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,573,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Beacon Roofing Supply in the 4th quarter worth about $68,588,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Beacon Roofing Supply by 1,449.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 615,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,205,000 after buying an additional 575,852 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Beacon Roofing Supply by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,384,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,247,000 after purchasing an additional 329,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Beacon Roofing Supply by 253.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 424,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,118,000 after buying an additional 304,287 shares during the period. 98.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Beacon Roofing Supply

Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of residential and non-residential roofing materials, and complementary building products to contractors, home builders, building owners, lumberyards, and retailers in the United States and Canada. The company offers pitched roofing and low slope roof products; gutters and sidings; building materials, such as lumber and composite, skylights and window, plywood and OSB, decking and railing, and HVAC products; and foam board, spray foam, roll, batt, mineral wool, fiberglass, and commercial insulation products, as well as radiant barriers and blown-in insulation and equipment.