State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stock Position in Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,187 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,205 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.07% of Armstrong World Industries worth $2,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Armstrong World Industries by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,733 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Armstrong World Industries by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,291 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Armstrong World Industries by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 9,765 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Armstrong World Industries by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Armstrong World Industries by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. 98.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AWI. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $95.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $111.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Armstrong World Industries from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Armstrong World Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.60.

Armstrong World Industries Price Performance

NYSE:AWI opened at $116.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.95. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.03 and a 1-year high of $125.56.

Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The construction company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $312.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.44 million. Armstrong World Industries had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 41.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Armstrong World Industries, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Armstrong World Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. Armstrong World Industries’s payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Armstrong World Industries Profile

Armstrong World Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of ceiling and wall solutions in the Americas. It operates through Mineral Fiber and Architectural Specialties segments. The company offers mineral fiber, fiberglass wool, metal, wood, felt, wood fiber, and glass-reinforced-gypsum; ceiling component products, such as ceiling perimeters and trims, as well as grid products that support drywall ceiling systems; ceilings, walls, and facades for use in commercial settings; and manufactures ceiling suspension system (grid) products.