ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) Short Interest Update

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,940,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the August 15th total of 14,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of ADT from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ADT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in ADT by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,818 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in ADT by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,358,277 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $22,903,000 after acquiring an additional 385,491 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in ADT by 470.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 371,498 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 306,319 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ADT by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,587,542 shares of the security and automation business’s stock worth $51,748,000 after purchasing an additional 741,658 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in ADT by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 55,491 shares of the security and automation business’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 9,882 shares in the last quarter. 87.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ADT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADT traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $7.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,413,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,948,916. ADT has a fifty-two week low of $5.53 and a fifty-two week high of $7.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.07.

ADT (NYSE:ADT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The security and automation business reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17. ADT had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ADT will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

ADT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.055 per share. This represents a $0.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. ADT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.43%.

ADT Company Profile

ADT Inc provides security, interactive, and smart home solutions to residential and small business customers in the United States. It operates through two segments, Consumer and Small Business, and Solar. The company provides burglar and life safety alarms, smart security cameras, smart home automation systems, and video surveillance systems.