Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Short Interest Update

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 167,300 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the August 31st total of 157,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 34,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 747.5% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 89,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,000 after buying an additional 78,576 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in shares of Hooker Furnishings in the 1st quarter worth $357,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Hooker Furnishings by 27.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 43,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 9,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hooker Furnishings during the 1st quarter worth about $869,000. 73.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hooker Furnishings Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HOFT traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.21. 38,559 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,757. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.84 million, a PE ratio of 46.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.98. Hooker Furnishings has a 12 month low of $13.09 and a 12 month high of $27.15.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.06). Hooker Furnishings had a return on equity of 0.72% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $95.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hooker Furnishings Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Hooker Furnishings’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 235.90%.

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.