9,401 Shares in The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in The Shyft Group by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,705,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,852,000 after buying an additional 239,340 shares during the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC lifted its position in The Shyft Group by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 1,020,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,839,000 after buying an additional 47,378 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in The Shyft Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 947,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,366,000 after buying an additional 112,038 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in The Shyft Group by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 889,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,178,000 after buying an additional 211,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in The Shyft Group by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 697,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,195,000 after buying an additional 22,305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SHYF. Raymond James lowered their price objective on The Shyft Group from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 24th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on The Shyft Group from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded The Shyft Group from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, April 28th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen K. Guillaume sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.83, for a total transaction of $53,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 73,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,979,839.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Stephen K. Guillaume sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.58, for a total value of $106,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 67,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,801,911.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen K. Guillaume sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.83, for a total value of $53,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,792 shares in the company, valued at $1,979,839.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

The Shyft Group Price Performance

SHYF opened at $23.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.77. The Shyft Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.66 and a 52-week high of $34.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.70 million, a PE ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 1.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.81.

The Shyft Group (NASDAQ:SHYF – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.14. The Shyft Group had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 3.96%. The firm had revenue of $302.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $314.60 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Shyft Group, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

The Shyft Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The Shyft Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.81%.

The Shyft Group Profile

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The Shyft Group, Inc engages in vehicle manufacturing and assembly for the commercial and retail vehicle industries as well as for the emergency response and recreational vehicle markets. It operates through the Fleet Vehicles and Services, and Specialty Vehicles segments. The Fleet Vehicles and Services segment manufactures commercial vehicles used in the e-commerce/last mile/parcel delivery, beverage and grocery delivery, mobile retail, and trades and construction industries.