Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY)

B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 86,778 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 105% compared to the average volume of 42,433 call options.

B. Riley Financial Price Performance

Shares of RILY opened at $36.82 on Friday. B. Riley Financial has a 12-month low of $14.46 and a 12-month high of $60.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.53 and its 200 day moving average is $23.88. The company has a quick ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 4.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.20 and a beta of 1.56.

B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The asset manager reported ($1.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. B. Riley Financial had a negative return on equity of 8.29% and a negative net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $346.51 million during the quarter.

B. Riley Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. B. Riley Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B. Riley Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LexAurum Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of B. Riley Financial in the 1st quarter worth $608,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in B. Riley Financial by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 19,489 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in B. Riley Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,001,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in B. Riley Financial by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 45,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 22,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in B. Riley Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $713,000. 50.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B. Riley Financial Company Profile

B. Riley Financial, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services to corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients in North America, Australia, and Europe. The company operates through six segments: Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Financial Consulting, Auction and Liquidation, Communications, and Consumer.