Short Interest in Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) Decreases By 5.8%

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the target of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,780,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the August 15th total of 7,200,000 shares. Approximately 32.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GRPN shares. Northland Capmk raised Groupon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Northland Securities decreased their target price on Groupon from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Groupon from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.83.

Groupon Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of GRPN opened at $11.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.75 and a 200 day moving average of $13.95. Groupon has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $19.56. The firm has a market cap of $465.79 million, a P/E ratio of -9.13 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The coupon company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $124.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Groupon will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Groupon

In related news, Director Jason Harinstein acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.61 per share, for a total transaction of $159,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at $590,531.38. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Jason Harinstein acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.61 per share, for a total transaction of $159,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at $590,531.38. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Bass sold 4,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.35, for a total value of $52,017.05. Following the transaction, the director now owns 104,731 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,696.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 35.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Groupon

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new stake in Groupon in the 1st quarter worth about $151,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Groupon in the 1st quarter worth about $153,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Groupon by 1,848.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 22,879 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 21,705 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Groupon in the 1st quarter worth about $309,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Groupon by 3,380.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,428 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 30,525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Groupon Company Profile

Groupon, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites.