Short Interest in Primoris Services Corporation (NYSE:PRIM) Increases By 50.2%

Primoris Services Corporation (NYSE:PRIMGet Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,490,057 shares, an increase of 50.2% from the July 15th total of 2,988,512 shares. Approximately 8.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,445,998 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Key Stories Impacting Primoris Services

Here are the key news stories impacting Primoris Services this week:

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Primoris Services from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Primoris Services in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on shares of Primoris Services in a research report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Primoris Services from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Primoris Services from $188.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.27.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on PRIM

Insider Buying and Selling at Primoris Services

In related news, Director David Lee King sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.09, for a total transaction of $2,381,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,941 shares in the company, valued at $1,779,323.69. This represents a 57.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John M. Perisich sold 29,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $3,798,337.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,525,611.64. This represents a 51.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Primoris Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Primoris Services by 327.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after buying an additional 16,008 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Primoris Services by 509.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 336,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,800,000 after acquiring an additional 281,482 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Primoris Services by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 638,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,310,000 after acquiring an additional 15,112 shares during the period. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Primoris Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,116,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Primoris Services by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,472,000 after acquiring an additional 13,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

Primoris Services Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of PRIM stock traded down $1.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.10. 209,789 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,435,006. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.29. Primoris Services has a 1-year low of $65.00 and a 1-year high of $205.50.

Primoris Services (NYSE:PRIMGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Primoris Services had a return on equity of 9.96% and a net margin of 1.92%.The firm’s revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Primoris Services will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Primoris Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Primoris Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.55%.

Primoris Services Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Primoris Services Corporation, a specialty contractor company, provides a range of construction, fabrication, maintenance, replacement, and engineering services in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: Utilities, Energy/Renewables, and Pipeline Services. The Utilities segment offers installation and maintenance services for new and existing natural gas distribution systems, electric utility distribution and transmission systems, and communications systems. The Energy/Renewables segment provides a range of services, including engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as retrofits, highway and bridge construction, demolition, site work, soil stabilization, mass excavation, flood control, upgrades, repairs, outages, and maintenance services to renewable energy and energy storage, renewable fuels, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries, as well as state departments of transportation.

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