Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Short Interest Update

Friedman Industries, Incorporated (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,000 shares, a decline of 32.0% from the May 15th total of 20,600 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Friedman Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN FRD opened at $16.62 on Tuesday. Friedman Industries has a fifty-two week low of $12.24 and a fifty-two week high of $19.12. The company has a market cap of $115.84 million, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.44.

Friedman Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Friedman Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Friedman Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRD. Mink Brook Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Friedman Industries during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,885,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 157,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,414,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 72,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 12,663 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 53,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the period. 33.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Friedman Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Friedman Industries Company Profile

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.