Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Short Interest Update

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 317,500 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the August 15th total of 385,600 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 144,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPNS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Sapiens International from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Sapiens International from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Sapiens International from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sapiens International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd.

Sapiens International Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Sapiens International stock opened at $36.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Sapiens International has a 1-year low of $24.39 and a 1-year high of $41.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84 and a beta of 1.25.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $136.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.78 million. Sapiens International had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sapiens International will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Sapiens International’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.28. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. Sapiens International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,036,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,183,000 after purchasing an additional 25,623 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 9.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 954,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,687,000 after buying an additional 79,302 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Sapiens International by 14.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 681,004 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,106,000 after acquiring an additional 87,001 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Sapiens International by 155.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 599,386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,276,000 after acquiring an additional 364,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sapiens International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,616,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

About Sapiens International

Sapiens International Corporation N.V. provides software solutions for the insurance industry in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides various solutions for property and casualty commercial and personal lines, life and pensions, and reinsurance fields.