Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) Director Loretta Lydia Sanchez Sells 8,719 Shares

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) Director Loretta Lydia Sanchez sold 8,719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.07, for a total transaction of $131,395.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $301,400. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Universal Technical Institute Trading Up 5.0 %

NYSE UTI traded up $0.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $15.94. 1,137,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 674,879. The firm has a market cap of $543.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.63 and a fifty-two week high of $16.37.

Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $174.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.19 million. Universal Technical Institute had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 9.25%. Analysts predict that Universal Technical Institute, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UTI. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 15.0% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 426,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,573,000 after acquiring an additional 55,608 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 2.4% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 74,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 45.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 32,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 10,142 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 6.6% during the third quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 627,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,262,000 after acquiring an additional 38,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in Universal Technical Institute by 8.3% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 15,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UTI. Northland Securities began coverage on shares of Universal Technical Institute in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Universal Technical Institute from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Universal Technical Institute from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Universal Technical Institute from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.20.

About Universal Technical Institute

Universal Technical Institute, Inc provides transportation, skilled trades, and healthcare education programs in the United States. The company operates in two segments, UTI and Concorde. It offers certificate, diploma, or degree programs under various brands, such as Universal Technical Institute, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, NASCAR Technical Institute, and MIAT College of Technology.