Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 160,700 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the July 31st total of 147,600 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 37,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Tonya Harris Jackson bought 1,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.61 per share, for a total transaction of $25,178.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,229 shares in the company, valued at $343,366.69. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Hooker Furnishings in the first quarter valued at approximately $106,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Hooker Furnishings by 71.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.63% of the company’s stock.

Hooker Furnishings Price Performance

HOFT stock opened at $15.84 on Tuesday. Hooker Furnishings has a 12 month low of $13.09 and a 12 month high of $27.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.20 million, a PE ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.97.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.36). Hooker Furnishings had a net margin of 1.07% and a return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $93.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hooker Furnishings will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

About Hooker Furnishings

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.