DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) Stock Rating Upgraded by Freedom Capital

DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) was upgraded by Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on DNOW. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of DNOW from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of DNOW in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of DNOW from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of DNOW in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of DNOW from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

DNOW Stock Performance

DNOW stock opened at $13.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 0.82. DNOW has a fifty-two week low of $10.94 and a fifty-two week high of $17.26.

DNOW (NYSE:DNOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.04). DNOW had a negative net margin of 4.14% and a positive return on equity of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 97.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that DNOW will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DNOW

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in DNOW by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,498,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $258,351,000 after buying an additional 7,762,071 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of DNOW by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,813,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $143,275,000 after acquiring an additional 7,048,382 shares during the last quarter. Engine Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of DNOW during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,525,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of DNOW during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,302,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of DNOW during the 4th quarter worth about $55,135,000. 97.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About DNOW

DistributionNOW (NYSE: DNOW) is a global distributor of energy and industrial products, serving a broad range of end-markets including oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation, and industrial manufacturing. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company provides solutions across the life cycle of energy and industrial assets, with an emphasis on safety, reliability and operational efficiency.

The company’s core product portfolio includes piping systems and related components (such as valves, fittings, flanges and gaskets), instrumentation, electrical and automation equipment, fasteners, industrial safety supplies, chemicals and composite products.