The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSE:GRC) Short Interest Down 22.3% in March

The Gorman-Rupp Company (NYSE:GRC) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 100,000 shares, a drop of 22.3% from the February 28th total of 128,700 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 70,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Gorman-Rupp Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GRC traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $35.31. 12,369 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 84,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $926.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.94. Gorman-Rupp has a 12 month low of $30.47 and a 12 month high of $43.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.77.

Gorman-Rupp (NYSE:GRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.03). Gorman-Rupp had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 12.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Gorman-Rupp will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gorman-Rupp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Gorman-Rupp’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gorman-Rupp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Gorman-Rupp by 218.8% in the third quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 127,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after acquiring an additional 87,500 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Gorman-Rupp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,083,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Gorman-Rupp by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 115,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,381,000 after buying an additional 42,082 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Gorman-Rupp by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 703,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,661,000 after buying an additional 38,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gorman-Rupp during the fourth quarter worth $1,100,000. 59.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Gorman-Rupp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

About Gorman-Rupp

The Gorman-Rupp Company designs, manufactures, and sells pumps and pump systems in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include self-priming centrifugal, standard centrifugal, magnetic drive centrifugal, axial and mixed flow, vertical turbine line shaft, submersible, high-pressure booster, rotary gear, diaphragm, bellows, and oscillating pumps.