Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,700 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the March 31st total of 15,100 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Value Line

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Value Line by 340.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Value Line by 144.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 923 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Value Line in the 4th quarter valued at $311,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Value Line in the first quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Value Line by 284.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 21,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 15,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Value Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Value Line Stock Up 0.4 %

Value Line stock opened at $40.80 on Monday. Value Line has a 12 month low of $32.94 and a 12 month high of $57.68. The stock has a market cap of $384.09 million, a P/E ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.02.

Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.97 million during the quarter. Value Line had a net margin of 62.02% and a return on equity of 24.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share.

Value Line Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This is an increase from Value Line’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Value Line’s dividend payout ratio is 57.02%.

About Value Line

Value Line, Inc produces and sells investment periodicals and related publications. Its investment periodicals and related publications cover a range of investments, including stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and options. The company's research services include The Value Line Investment Survey, The Value Line Investment Survey – Small and Mid-Cap, The Value Line 600, and The Value Line Fund Advisor Plus that provide statistical and text coverage of various investment securities, with an emphasis placed on its proprietary research, analysis, and statistical ranks.