Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 657,900 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the February 28th total of 762,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 343,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Myers Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Myers Industries by 78.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,845,000 after acquiring an additional 58,761 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Myers Industries by 464.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 60,954 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Myers Industries in the fourth quarter valued at $290,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Myers Industries by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,374,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,176,000 after buying an additional 35,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Myers Industries by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 73,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 9,349 shares during the last quarter. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Myers Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Myers Industries Trading Down 14.9 %

NYSE MYE traded down $1.88 on Thursday, reaching $10.75. The stock had a trading volume of 365,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,844. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.08. Myers Industries has a 12-month low of $9.32 and a 12-month high of $23.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $400.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 1.21.

Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $203.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.10 million. Myers Industries had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 1.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Myers Industries will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Myers Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Myers Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Myers Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 284.21%.

About Myers Industries

Myers Industries, Inc engages in distribution of tire service supplies in Ohio. It operates through two segments, The Material Handling and Distribution. The Material Handling segment offers pallets, small parts bins, bulk shipping containers, and OEM parts, as well as storage and organization, and custom plastic products; and injection molded, rotationally molded or blow molded products, consumer fuel containers and tanks for water, fuel, and waste handling.