Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Short Interest Up 31.1% in March

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,940,000 shares, an increase of 31.1% from the March 15th total of 4,530,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Honda Motor Price Performance

Shares of Honda Motor stock opened at $29.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. Honda Motor has a 12 month low of $23.41 and a 12 month high of $34.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $36.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.31 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 7.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Honda Motor will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HMC. StockNews.com raised shares of Honda Motor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Honda Motor in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honda Motor

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Honda Motor by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,594,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,517,000 after acquiring an additional 158,072 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Honda Motor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,255,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,846,000 after purchasing an additional 81,548 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,099,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,396,000 after purchasing an additional 452,624 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Honda Motor during the fourth quarter valued at about $23,272,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Honda Motor by 153.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 668,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,074,000 after buying an additional 404,883 shares in the last quarter. 5.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Honda Motor Company Profile

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.