Short Interest in Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) Drops By 18.9%

Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,600 shares, a drop of 18.9% from the February 28th total of 14,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Value Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Value Line

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALU. Barclays PLC increased its position in Value Line by 340.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Value Line by 144.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management purchased a new position in Value Line during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Value Line in the fourth quarter worth approximately $311,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Value Line by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares in the last quarter. 6.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Value Line Price Performance

VALU stock opened at $38.67 on Tuesday. Value Line has a 12 month low of $32.94 and a 12 month high of $57.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.25 and its 200 day moving average is $46.16. The company has a market capitalization of $364.04 million, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.74.

Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter. Value Line had a net margin of 62.02% and a return on equity of 24.00%. The business had revenue of $8.97 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share.

Value Line Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 27th. Value Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.63%.

About Value Line

Value Line, Inc produces and sells investment periodicals and related publications. Its investment periodicals and related publications cover a range of investments, including stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and options. The company's research services include The Value Line Investment Survey, The Value Line Investment Survey – Small and Mid-Cap, The Value Line 600, and The Value Line Fund Advisor Plus that provide statistical and text coverage of various investment securities, with an emphasis placed on its proprietary research, analysis, and statistical ranks.