Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) Short Interest Update

Gates Industrial Corp PLC (NYSE:GTES) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,690,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the September 15th total of 7,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Gates Industrial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Gates Industrial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Gates Industrial from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Gates Industrial in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Gates Industrial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.40.

Gates Industrial Price Performance

NYSE GTES traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.08. 488,743 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,975,323. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 1.40. Gates Industrial has a 12-month low of $10.68 and a 12-month high of $19.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Gates Industrial (NYSE:GTES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $885.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.00 million. Gates Industrial had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 10.27%. As a group, analysts predict that Gates Industrial will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Gates Industrial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 31st that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gates Industrial news, Director Wilson S. Neely acquired 11,952 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.80 per share, with a total value of $200,793.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,800. The trade was a -200.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gates Industrial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GTES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Gates Industrial by 17.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,008,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,935,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678,954 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Gates Industrial by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,750,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450,526 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Gates Industrial by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,921,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,741 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Gates Industrial by 19.9% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,137,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,421,000 after buying an additional 686,080 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gates Industrial by 156.8% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,665,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,144,000 after buying an additional 1,627,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

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.