Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Cantor Fitzgerald

Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Sterling Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sterling Infrastructure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sterling Infrastructure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Sterling Infrastructure from $355.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Sterling Infrastructure Stock Down 3.5%

STRL stock opened at $351.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $324.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.25. Sterling Infrastructure has a 52-week low of $96.34 and a 52-week high of $419.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The construction company reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.69. Sterling Infrastructure had a return on equity of 29.81% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $689.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.80 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sterling Infrastructure will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Sterling Infrastructure announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dwayne Andree Wilson sold 2,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,001,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,150. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STRL. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Infrastructure in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Infrastructure during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Infrastructure during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Sterling Infrastructure by 76.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 81 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Sterling Infrastructure in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 80.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sterling Infrastructure

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc (NASDAQ: STRL) is a diversified manufacturer and distributor of essential infrastructure products serving municipal, utility and industrial customers across North America. Through its network of wholly owned subsidiaries, the company designs, engineers and produces a wide range of cast and fabricated solutions tailored to the needs of the waterworks, natural gas, telecommunications, electric, traffic safety and parks & recreation markets.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses ductile iron and composite fittings, valve boxes, manhole frames and covers, water and gas meter sets, street light poles and mounting accessories, traffic sign posts with breakaway systems, bollards and related system components.