ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI) Short Interest Up 27.6% in October

ATI Inc. (NYSE:ATI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,450,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the October 15th total of 1,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

ATI Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ATI traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.05. The stock had a trading volume of 425,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,829. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.58. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. ATI has a twelve month low of $38.04 and a twelve month high of $68.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

ATI (NYSE:ATI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.06). ATI had a return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. ATI’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that ATI will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ATI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $700.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at ATI

In other news, Chairman Robert S. Wetherbee sold 25,000 shares of ATI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $1,555,750.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 486,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,271,347.89. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of ATI by 202.7% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 18,381 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of ATI during the 2nd quarter worth $757,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of ATI by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 528,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,312,000 after buying an additional 79,285 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of ATI by 20.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,496,000 after buying an additional 21,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in ATI by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,409,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $788,524,000 after purchasing an additional 203,012 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of ATI from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of ATI from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of ATI from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of ATI from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of ATI in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.71.

About ATI

ATI Inc produces and sells specialty materials and complex components worldwide. It operates in two segments: High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) and Advanced Alloys & Solutions (AA&S). The HPMC segment produces various materials, including titanium and titanium-based alloys, nickel- and cobalt-based alloys and superalloys, metallic powder alloys, advanced powder alloys and other specialty materials, in long product forms, such as ingot, billet, bar, rod, wire, shapes and rectangles, and seamless tubes, as well as precision forgings, components, and machined parts.