First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 19,269 Shares of Interface, Inc. $TILE

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) by 20.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,064 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,269 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.20% of Interface worth $2,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arjuna Capital grew its stake in Interface by 4.1% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 23,577 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Interface by 18.6% during the first quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 18,828 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 2,949 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Interface in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Interface by 6.0% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,527 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Interface by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 309,013 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $7,701,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TILE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Interface in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Benchmark started coverage on Interface in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Interface in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Interface from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Interface currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Interface Price Performance

Shares of TILE stock opened at $35.10 on Friday. Interface, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.40 and a 1 year high of $36.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.91 and its 200-day moving average is $30.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The textile maker reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. Interface had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The business had revenue of $331.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Interface’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Interface, Inc. will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interface Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Interface’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interface

In related news, VP David B. Foshee sold 44,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $1,287,397.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 175,014 shares in the company, valued at $5,075,406. This trade represents a 20.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bruce Andrew Hausmann sold 50,000 shares of Interface stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.66, for a total value of $1,483,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 119,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,537,132.96. The trade was a 29.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Interface Profile

Interface, Inc (NASDAQ: TILE) is a global manufacturer of modular flooring and resilient commercial flooring solutions. The company specializes in carpet tiles, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and other environmentally responsible hard-surface products designed for use in corporate, education, healthcare, hospitality and retail environments. Interface’s portfolio also includes broadloom carpet, rubber flooring and acoustic underlays, all engineered to meet performance, design and sustainability requirements in modern interior spaces.

Founded in 1973 by Ray C.