Open Text Co. (NASDAQ:OTEX) Short Interest Up 19.9% in February

Open Text Co. (NASDAQ:OTEX) (TSE:OTC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,360,000 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the January 31st total of 4,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 703,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.6 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Open Text Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Open Text stock opened at $26.33 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.17. Open Text has a 12-month low of $25.07 and a 12-month high of $40.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Open Text (NASDAQ:OTEX) (TSE:OTC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.10. Open Text had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 23.23%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Open Text will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Open Text Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.2625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Open Text’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. Open Text’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Open Text

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Open Text by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,011 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Open Text by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,373 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Open Text during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Open Text in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Open Text by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,564 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. 70.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Open Text from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Open Text from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Open Text in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Open Text from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Open Text from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.18.

Open Text Company Profile

Open Text Corporation provides information management software and solutions. The company offers content services, which includes content collaboration and intelligent capture to records management, collaboration, e-signatures, and archiving; and operates experience cloud platform that provides customer experience and web content management, digital asset management, customer analytics, AI and insights, e-discovery, digital fax, omnichannel communications, secure messaging, and voice of customer, as well as customer journey, testing, and segmentation.