Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

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

Institutional Trading of Hooker Furnishings

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Hooker Furnishings in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the 1st quarter valued at about $77,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Hooker Furnishings during the 1st quarter valued at about $106,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hooker Furnishings in the 1st quarter valued at about $107,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Hooker Furnishings by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. 73.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hooker Furnishings Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HOFT opened at $17.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $190.96 million, a PE ratio of 137.16 and a beta of 1.19. Hooker Furnishings has a one year low of $13.09 and a one year high of $27.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.03 and a 200 day moving average of $16.03.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT) last released 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). Hooker Furnishings had a return on equity of 0.72% and a net margin of 0.40%. The company had revenue of $95.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Hooker Furnishings’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 707.75%.

About Hooker Furnishings

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.