Short Interest in Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) Increases By 6.3%

Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 56,100 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the August 31st total of 52,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 56,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Farmer Bros. Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of FARM traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.91. 131,792 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 68,170. Farmer Bros. has a 12-month low of $1.86 and a 12-month high of $4.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $40.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 1.79.

Farmer Bros. (NASDAQ:FARM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22). Farmer Bros. had a negative return on equity of 27.35% and a negative net margin of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $84.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.30 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.84) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Farmer Bros. will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmer Bros.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Farmer Bros. during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Farmer Bros. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 367,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,327 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Farmer Bros. by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 559,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Farmer Bros. by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 824,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 65,277 shares during the last quarter. 64.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FARM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Farmer Bros. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Farmer Bros. from $6.00 to $4.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Farmer Bros. in a research note on Monday, June 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company.

About Farmer Bros.

Farmer Bros. Co engages in the roasting, wholesale, equipment servicing, and distribution of coffee, tea, and other allied products in the United States. The company offers roast and ground coffee; frozen liquid coffee; flavoured and unflavoured iced and hot teas; culinary products, including spices, pancake and biscuit mixes, gravy and sauce mixes, soup bases, dressings, and syrups and sauces, as well as coffee filters, cups, sugar, and creamers; and other beverages comprising cappuccino, cocoa, granitas, and other blender-based beverages and concentrated and ready-to-drink cold brew and iced coffee.