Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Short Interest Down 15.0% in March

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 280,800 shares, a decline of 15.0% from the March 15th total of 330,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 64,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,335,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,712,000 after acquiring an additional 49,212 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Hooker Furnishings by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 754,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 70,281 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 241,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Hooker Furnishings by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 172,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 8,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 170,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.63% of the company’s stock.

Hooker Furnishings Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HOFT opened at $8.69 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.06. The company has a market cap of $93.07 million, a P/E ratio of -9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.23. Hooker Furnishings has a 12-month low of $7.34 and a 12-month high of $19.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.15). Hooker Furnishings had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a negative return on equity of 3.51%. The business had revenue of $104.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hooker Furnishings’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Hooker Furnishings from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday.

Hooker Furnishings Company Profile

Hooker Furnishings Corporation designs, manufactures, imports, and markets residential household, hospitality, and contract furniture. It operates in three segments: Hooker Branded, Home Meridian, and Domestic Upholstery. The Hooker Branded segment offers design categories, including home entertainment, home office, accent, dining, and bedroom furniture under the Hooker Furniture brand; and imported upholstered furniture under the Hooker Upholstery brand.