Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Short Interest Down 7.3% in October

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 161,400 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the October 15th total of 174,200 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 23,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Hooker Furnishings Price Performance

Shares of HOFT stock traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $17.92. 236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,299. Hooker Furnishings has a one year low of $13.09 and a one year high of $27.15. The company has a market cap of $191.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.07 and a 200-day moving average of $16.03.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $95.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.54 million. Hooker Furnishings had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 0.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Hooker Furnishings Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Hooker Furnishings’s payout ratio is currently 707.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Hooker Furnishings by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after acquiring an additional 31,261 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Hooker Furnishings by 23.8% during the second quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 624,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,042,000 after purchasing an additional 120,219 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 95.1% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 70,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 34,410 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Hooker Furnishings in the first quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings during the second quarter valued at $1,180,000. 73.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.