Short Interest in BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) Decreases By 9.0%

BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 871,000 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the August 15th total of 956,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 485,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BWXT. CLSA initiated coverage on shares of BWX Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BTIG Research began coverage on BWX Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on BWX Technologies from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays downgraded BWX Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on BWX Technologies in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.57.

BWX Technologies Price Performance

BWXT stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.13. 486,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 559,977. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.71. BWX Technologies has a twelve month low of $72.14 and a twelve month high of $107.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.34.

BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.06. BWX Technologies had a return on equity of 31.93% and a net margin of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $681.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. BWX Technologies’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BWX Technologies will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BWX Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. BWX Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.66%.

Institutional Trading of BWX Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of BWX Technologies by 105.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,239 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 9,344 shares during the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of BWX Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,144,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in BWX Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $1,096,000. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BWX Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,485,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in BWX Technologies by 39.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 111,757 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,469,000 after purchasing an additional 31,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.39% of the company’s stock.

About BWX Technologies

BWX Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells nuclear components in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Government Operations and Commercial Operations. The Government Operations segment designs and manufactures naval nuclear components, reactors, and nuclear fuel; fabrication activities; and supplies proprietary and sole-source valves, manifolds, and fittings to naval and commercial shipping customers.