GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Short Interest Up 13.1% in August

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,910,000 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the August 15th total of 9,650,000 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK stock opened at $42.55 on Wednesday. GSK has a one year low of $33.67 and a one year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $88.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.70.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.3843 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 54.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSK. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in GSK in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. PrairieView Partners LLC acquired a new position in GSK in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in GSK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

About GSK

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.