Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in The Shyft Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in The Shyft Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,739,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,034,000 after purchasing an additional 28,179 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its position in The Shyft Group by 21.2% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 101,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 17,770 shares in the last quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its position in The Shyft Group by 40.4% during the third quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 152,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 43,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in The Shyft Group in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Institutional investors own 85.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Shyft Group

In other news, CEO John Albert Dunn bought 4,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.00 per share, for a total transaction of $49,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,894 shares in the company, valued at $394,834. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson dropped their price target on The Shyft Group from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

The Shyft Group Price Performance

Shares of SHYF stock opened at $11.23 on Friday. The Shyft Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.81 and a fifty-two week high of $27.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.39 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.55.

The Shyft Group (NASDAQ:SHYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.03. The Shyft Group had a return on equity of 4.91% and a net margin of 0.74%. The business had revenue of $202.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.40 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Shyft Group, Inc. will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Shyft Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The Shyft Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.11%.

The Shyft Group Profile

The Shyft Group, Inc engages in the manufacture and assembly of specialty vehicles for the commercial and recreational vehicle industries in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Fleet Vehicles and Services, and Specialty Vehicles. The Fleet Vehicles and Services segment offers commercial vehicles used in the e-commerce/last mile/parcel delivery, beverage and grocery delivery, laundry and linen, mobile retail, and trades and construction industries.