Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 586,700 shares, a growth of 22.3% from the May 15th total of 479,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 222,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noah

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Noah during the first quarter worth $30,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in Noah during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Noah in the third quarter worth about $129,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Noah during the third quarter valued at about $129,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Noah by 260.8% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.67% of the company’s stock.

Noah Price Performance

Shares of Noah stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $10.20. The stock had a trading volume of 69,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 167,635. Noah has a 12 month low of $9.90 and a 12 month high of $16.02. The stock has a market cap of $673.40 million, a PE ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.30.

Noah (NYSE:NOAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The asset manager reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $74.64 million for the quarter. Noah had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 31.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Noah will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noah Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $2.1249 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 10.4%. Noah’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NOAH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Noah from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Noah from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Noah Company Profile

Noah Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wealth and asset management service provider with the focus on investment and asset allocation services for high net worth individuals and enterprises in Mainland of China, Hong Kong, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Other Services.