Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 173,400 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the October 31st total of 161,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 23,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hooker Furnishings

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 624,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,042,000 after purchasing an additional 120,219 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 95.1% in the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 70,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 34,410 shares in the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,180,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 73.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hooker Furnishings Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of HOFT stock opened at $17.92 on Thursday. Hooker Furnishings has a 52 week low of $13.09 and a 52 week high of $27.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.92 million, a PE ratio of 139.93 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.05.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.06). Hooker Furnishings had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 0.72%. The business had revenue of $95.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. Analysts expect that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. Hooker Furnishings’s payout ratio is 707.75%.

About Hooker Furnishings

Hooker Furnishings Corporation designs, manufactures, imports, and markets residential household, hospitality, and contract furniture. It operates in three segments: Hooker Branded, Home Meridian, and Domestic Upholstery. The Hooker Branded segment offers design categories, including home entertainment, home office, accent, dining, and bedroom furniture under the Hooker Furniture brand; and imported upholstered furniture under the Hooker Upholstery brand.