Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 178,900 shares, an increase of 25.6% from the August 31st total of 142,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 122,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Luxfer Stock Performance

Luxfer stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.88. The company had a trading volume of 59,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,336. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.28. Luxfer has a 52 week low of $7.55 and a 52 week high of $13.52.

Luxfer (NYSE:LXFR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. Luxfer had a positive return on equity of 6.24% and a negative net margin of 1.28%. The firm had revenue of $99.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.70 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Luxfer will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Luxfer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Luxfer

In other news, insider Graham Wardlow sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total value of $70,395.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,156.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Luxfer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Luxfer in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Luxfer by 466.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Luxfer during the second quarter worth about $133,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Luxfer by 254.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Luxfer in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,000. 90.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Luxfer

Luxfer Holdings PLC, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance materials, components, and high-pressure gas containment devices for defense and first response, healthcare, transportation, and general industrial applications. The company operates through three segments: Elektron, Gas Cylinders, and graphic Arts.