Short Interest in Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEK) Increases By 220.8%

Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEK) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, an increase of 220.8% from the August 15th total of 1,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on TTEK shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Tetra Tech from $46.60 to $51.80 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Tetra Tech from $46.80 to $49.40 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Tetra Tech from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Tetra Tech from $44.60 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan L. Batrack sold 89,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.54, for a total value of $4,081,653.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,664,990.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Dan L. Batrack sold 89,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.54, for a total value of $4,081,653.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,664,990.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Steven M. Burdick sold 36,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.57, for a total transaction of $1,715,173.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 112,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,244,713.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 236,370 shares of company stock worth $10,880,243. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTEK. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in Tetra Tech in the 2nd quarter valued at $135,897,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tetra Tech in the 4th quarter valued at $96,655,000. LGT Group Foundation increased its stake in shares of Tetra Tech by 7,481.7% in the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 491,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,490,000 after acquiring an additional 484,962 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Tetra Tech in the 2nd quarter worth $37,829,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Tetra Tech by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 677,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,459,000 after acquiring an additional 144,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.89% of the company’s stock.

Tetra Tech Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TTEK traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.24. 867,643 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 900,877. Tetra Tech has a 1 year low of $28.67 and a 1 year high of $48.26. The company has a market cap of $12.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.24.

Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Tetra Tech had a return on equity of 21.50% and a net margin of 5.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Tetra Tech will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tetra Tech Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.058 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Tetra Tech’s payout ratio is currently 4.66%.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech, Inc provides consulting and engineering services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Government Services Group (GSG) and Commercial/International Services Group (CIG). The GSG segment offers early data collection and monitoring, data analysis and information management, science and engineering applied research, engineering design, project management, and operations and maintenance services; and climate change and energy management consulting, as well as greenhouse gas inventory assessment, certification, reduction, and management services.