Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 52,800 shares, a decline of 8.3% from the August 15th total of 57,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 45,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Farmer Bros. Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of FARM stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.13. The stock had a trading volume of 85,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,831. Farmer Bros. has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $4.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $2.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.29 million, a P/E ratio of -0.94 and a beta of 1.79.

Farmer Bros. (NASDAQ:FARM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22). The company had revenue of $84.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.30 million. Farmer Bros. had a negative net margin of 13.46% and a negative return on equity of 58.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.84) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Farmer Bros. will post -0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmer Bros.

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in Farmer Bros. in the first quarter worth approximately $250,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Farmer Bros. by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 824,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 65,277 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Farmer Bros. by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 367,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,327 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Farmer Bros. by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 559,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on FARM. Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Farmer Bros. from $6.00 to $4.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Farmer Bros. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Farmer Bros. in a research report on Monday, June 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock.

Farmer Bros. Company Profile

Farmer Bros. Co engages in the roasting, wholesale, equipment servicing, and distribution of coffee, tea, and other allied products in the United States. The company offers roast and ground coffee; frozen liquid coffee; flavoured and unflavoured iced and hot teas; culinary products, including spices, pancake and biscuit mixes, gravy and sauce mixes, soup bases, dressings, and syrups and sauces, as well as coffee filters, cups, sugar, and creamers; and other beverages comprising cappuccino, cocoa, granitas, and other blender-based beverages and concentrated and ready-to-drink cold brew and iced coffee.