Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a growth of 65.5% from the January 31st total of 1,680,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 494,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Interface Trading Down 5.6 %

TILE opened at $19.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.01. Interface has a one year low of $14.13 and a one year high of $27.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.10.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Interface had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 19.91%. The firm had revenue of $335.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Interface will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel T. Hendrix sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $473,940.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 153,147 shares in the company, valued at $4,032,360.51. The trade was a 10.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David B. Foshee sold 15,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.27, for a total transaction of $398,647.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 202,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,316,995.46. The trade was a 6.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,175 shares of company stock worth $1,471,087. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Interface

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Interface during the 3rd quarter valued at $790,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interface during the third quarter valued at $1,138,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interface in the third quarter valued at about $1,661,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Interface by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,555 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Interface by 138.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 95,215 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 55,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on TILE. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Interface in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Interface Company Profile

Interface, Inc designs, produces, and sells modular carpet products primarily worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Americas (AMS), and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (EAAA). The company offers modular carpets under the Interface and FLOR brand names; luxury vinyl tiles; carpet tiles under the CQuestGB name for use in commercial interiors, include offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities, as well as residential interiors; and modular resilient flooring products.