Alta Equipment Group Inc. (NYSE:ALTG) Short Interest Down 5.9% in July

Alta Equipment Group Inc. (NYSE:ALTG) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the July 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Approximately 10.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 467,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ALTG shares. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Alta Equipment Group from $20.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $14.00) on shares of Alta Equipment Group in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Alta Equipment Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALTG opened at $6.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.54 million, a P/E ratio of -28.67 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.21. Alta Equipment Group has a fifty-two week low of $5.40 and a fifty-two week high of $14.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.93, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Alta Equipment Group (NYSE:ALTG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.34). Alta Equipment Group had a negative return on equity of 0.35% and a negative net margin of 0.21%. The company had revenue of $488.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alta Equipment Group will post -0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alta Equipment Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.057 per share. This represents a $0.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Alta Equipment Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -104.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew P. Studdert purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.65 per share, for a total transaction of $56,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 86,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,239.15. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Mill Road Capital Iii, L.P. bought 179,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.05 per share, for a total transaction of $1,444,282.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,894,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,346,764.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Andrew P. Studdert bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.65 per share, for a total transaction of $56,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,591 shares in the company, valued at $489,239.15. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 323,100 shares of company stock worth $2,810,131 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALTG. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Alta Equipment Group by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alta Equipment Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 236,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after buying an additional 31,490 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Alta Equipment Group by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 90,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 9,622 shares during the period. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alta Equipment Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,721,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alta Equipment Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 73.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alta Equipment Group

Alta Equipment Group Inc owns and operates integrated equipment dealership platforms in the United States. It operates through three segments: Material Handling, Construction Equipment, and Master Distribution. The company operates a branch network that sells, rents, and provides parts and service support for various categories of specialized equipment, including lift trucks and other material handling equipment, heavy and compact earthmoving equipment, crushing and screening equipment, environmental processing equipment, cranes and aerial work platforms, paving and asphalt equipment, and other construction equipment and related products.