Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, a decrease of 19.5% from the September 15th total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 617,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SCS shares. Noble Financial assumed coverage on Steelcase in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Steelcase from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st.

Insider Activity at Steelcase

In other Steelcase news, CAO Nicole Cherie Mcgrath sold 15,749 shares of Steelcase stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.94, for a total value of $219,541.06. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $257,234.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Nicole Cherie Mcgrath sold 15,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.94, for a total transaction of $219,541.06. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $257,234.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David C. Sylvester sold 73,184 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $1,012,866.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 551,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,634,033.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,877 shares of company stock worth $2,228,248 in the last 90 days. 12.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Steelcase in the 2nd quarter valued at $93,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Steelcase during the 1st quarter worth about $135,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Steelcase during the 1st quarter worth about $141,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Steelcase by 34,941.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 12,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 12,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Steelcase by 8.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Steelcase Price Performance

Shares of Steelcase stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.95. 489,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 703,967. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.32. Steelcase has a 52 week low of $10.29 and a 52 week high of $14.74.

Steelcase (NYSE:SCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The business services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. Steelcase had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $855.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $864.17 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Steelcase will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Steelcase Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Steelcase’s payout ratio is 52.63%.

About Steelcase

Steelcase Inc provides a portfolio of furniture and architectural products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas and International segments. The company's furniture portfolio includes furniture systems, seating, storage, fixed and height-adjustable desks, benches, and tables, as well as complementary products, such as work accessories, lighting, mobile power, and screens.