Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 192,000 shares, an increase of 113.3% from the February 28th total of 90,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 69,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Magic Software Enterprises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,000 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 4,274.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,818 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 5,685 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Magic Software Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Magic Software Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Institutional investors own 24.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MGIC shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Magic Software Enterprises from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. William Blair downgraded shares of Magic Software Enterprises from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Magic Software Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Magic Software Enterprises Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MGIC traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,458. Magic Software Enterprises has a 52 week low of $9.51 and a 52 week high of $14.24. The stock has a market cap of $635.83 million, a PE ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The software maker reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Magic Software Enterprises had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 6.49%. The business had revenue of $142.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.00 million. On average, analysts predict that Magic Software Enterprises will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Magic Software Enterprises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.327 per share. This represents a yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Magic Software Enterprises’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. Magic Software Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.67%.

About Magic Software Enterprises

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides proprietary application development, vertical software solutions, business process integration, information technologies (IT) outsourcing software services, and cloud-based services in Israel and internationally. Its Software Services segment develops, markets, sells, and supports application platform, software applications, and business and process integration solutions and related services.