Short Interest in Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE:VSTO) Grows By 23.9%

Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE:VSTO) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a growth of 23.9% from the October 31st total of 1,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 719,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Vista Outdoor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VSTO remained flat at $44.63 on Monday. Vista Outdoor has a twelve month low of $26.05 and a twelve month high of $44.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -247.94 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Vista Outdoor (NYSE:VSTO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $665.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $666.72 million. Vista Outdoor had a negative net margin of 0.34% and a positive return on equity of 19.53%. Vista Outdoor’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vista Outdoor will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSTO has been the subject of several research reports. Aegis cut shares of Vista Outdoor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley cut shares of Vista Outdoor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Vista Outdoor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Roth Capital cut shares of Vista Outdoor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vista Outdoor in a research report on Sunday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vista Outdoor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTO. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Vista Outdoor by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Vista Outdoor by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 9,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vista Outdoor by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Vista Outdoor by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vista Outdoor by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 26,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 90.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vista Outdoor

Vista Outdoor Inc designs, manufactures, and markets outdoor recreation and shooting sports products. in the United States and internationally. The Kinetic Group segment designs, develops, distributes, and manufactures ammunition, primers, and components for hunters, recreational shooters, federal and local law enforcement agencies, and the military.