Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $2.06 Million in Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. $SSD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. (NYSE:SSD) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,059,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Simpson Manufacturing by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 129,685 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,940,000 after purchasing an additional 56,769 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Simpson Manufacturing by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 33,651 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,635,000 after purchasing an additional 18,186 shares in the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Simpson Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,074,000. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Simpson Manufacturing by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 123,375 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,921,000 after buying an additional 21,889 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Simpson Manufacturing by 2,359.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 62,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $10,070,000 after buying an additional 59,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SSD shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Simpson Manufacturing from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Simpson Manufacturing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Simpson Manufacturing from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Stephens increased their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Simpson Manufacturing from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.75.

Simpson Manufacturing Stock Performance

Shares of SSD stock opened at $209.29 on Wednesday. Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.22 and a 12 month high of $213.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.40 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.68.

Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $587.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.08 million. Simpson Manufacturing had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 14.92%.The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Simpson Manufacturing Company, Inc. will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simpson Manufacturing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Simpson Manufacturing’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Simpson Manufacturing’s payout ratio is 13.60%.

Simpson Manufacturing Company Profile

Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc, through its Simpson Strong-Tie® brand, is a leading global supplier of structural building products. The company specializes in the design, testing, manufacture and supply of connectors, anchors, fasteners and lateral systems that enhance the safety and performance of wood, concrete and masonry structures. Its product portfolio also includes repair and strengthening systems, concrete reinforcement and high-performance adhesives used in residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

Founded in 1956 by Barclay Simpson in Oakland, California, Simpson Manufacturing has grown from a single product business into a diversified manufacturer with worldwide operations.