Ennis (NYSE:EBF) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ennis (NYSE:EBF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Ennis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EBF opened at $20.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $541.42 million, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.77. Ennis has a 1 year low of $18.88 and a 1 year high of $25.75.

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.39. Ennis had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 12.16%.

Ennis Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Ennis’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBF. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ennis in the third quarter valued at about $103,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Ennis by 30.9% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Ennis by 84.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 57,093 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 26,207 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ennis in the third quarter valued at about $415,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ennis by 34.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. 74.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ennis

Ennis, Inc manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands.