Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Short Interest Update

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, an increase of 8.3% from the January 15th total of 4,120,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Honda Motor Stock Performance

NYSE:HMC traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $27.69. 1,122,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,301,315. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Honda Motor has a 52 week low of $23.41 and a 52 week high of $37.90.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.37. Honda Motor had a return on equity of 7.53% and a net margin of 4.53%. The firm had revenue of $36.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Honda Motor will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honda Motor

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Honda Motor in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Honda Motor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Honda Motor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Honda Motor during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Honda Motor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 5.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

About Honda Motor

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.