Short Interest in Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Grows By 6.0%

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 167,300 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the August 31st total of 157,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 34,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hooker Furnishings

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hooker Furnishings during the first quarter worth $77,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the first quarter worth $106,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 71.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hooker Furnishings in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. Institutional investors own 73.63% of the company’s stock.

Hooker Furnishings Price Performance

Shares of HOFT traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.21. The stock had a trading volume of 38,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,757. The firm has a market cap of $183.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.98. Hooker Furnishings has a twelve month low of $13.09 and a twelve month high of $27.15.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $95.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.54 million. Hooker Furnishings had a return on equity of 0.72% and a net margin of 0.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. Hooker Furnishings’s payout ratio is currently 235.90%.

Hooker Furnishings Company Profile

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.