North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE:NOA) Short Interest Up 79.1% in April

North American Construction Group Ltd. (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 359,248 shares, a growth of 79.1% from the April 15th total of 200,569 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 126,652 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

North American Construction Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NOA opened at $15.32 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.31 and its 200 day moving average is $14.67. North American Construction Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.07 and a fifty-two week high of $18.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.18 million, a PE ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

North American Construction Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. North American Construction Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised North American Construction Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised North American Construction Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of North American Construction Group in a report on Thursday. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered North American Construction Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered North American Construction Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.75.

Institutional Trading of North American Construction Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aegis Financial Corp purchased a new stake in North American Construction Group in the third quarter worth $11,965,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in North American Construction Group in the fourth quarter worth $8,475,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in North American Construction Group by 20.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,704,392 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $38,409,000 after purchasing an additional 459,755 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in North American Construction Group by 50.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,179,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,763,000 after purchasing an additional 393,679 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in North American Construction Group in the fourth quarter worth $4,877,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.99% of the company’s stock.

North American Construction Group Company Profile

North American Construction Group Ltd (NYSE: NOA) is a Canadian industrial company headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, that specializes in providing integrated heavy construction equipment solutions. Through its two core segments—Sales and Rentals—the company offers a comprehensive portfolio of new and used off-highway trucks, wheel loaders, hydraulic excavators, dozers and motor graders, along with aftermarket parts and maintenance services.

In its Sales division, North American Construction Group partners with leading global equipment manufacturers to distribute and support a broad range of heavy machinery across multiple industries.