Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Friedman Industries (NYSEAMERICAN:FRD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Friedman Industries Price Performance

Friedman Industries stock opened at $16.86 on Thursday. Friedman Industries has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $19.52. The company has a market capitalization of $117.51 million, a PE ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Friedman Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Friedman Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Friedman Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.69%.

Institutional Trading of Friedman Industries

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its holdings in Friedman Industries by 16.4% in the first quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 435,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,164,000 after acquiring an additional 61,339 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Friedman Industries by 20.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 137,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 23,250 shares during the last quarter. EAM Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Friedman Industries during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,165,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 32,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 2,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Friedman Industries by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. 33.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Friedman Industries Company Profile

Friedman Industries, Incorporated engages in steel processing, pipe manufacturing and processing, and the steel and pipe distribution businesses the United States. It operates in two segments, Coil and Tubular. The Coil segment is involved in the conversion of steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel cut to customer specifications and reselling steel coils.