Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Short Interest Up 35.4% in May

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a growth of 35.4% from the May 15th total of 2,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 487,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP James Poppens sold 19,474 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $392,206.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 130,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,059.88. This trade represents a 13.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Interface

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Interface by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,159,773 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $122,210,000 after purchasing an additional 43,309 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Interface during the first quarter worth about $44,969,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Interface by 11.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,214,325 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,932,000 after purchasing an additional 222,029 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interface during the fourth quarter worth about $28,897,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Interface by 15.0% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,183,961 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $23,490,000 after purchasing an additional 154,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Interface Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:TILE opened at $20.07 on Thursday. Interface has a 12 month low of $14.13 and a 12 month high of $27.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.98.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The textile maker reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Interface had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $297.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Interface will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Interface Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Interface’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TILE. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Interface in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Interface from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th.

About Interface

Interface, Inc designs, produces, and sells modular carpet products primarily worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Americas (AMS), and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (EAAA). The company offers modular carpets under the Interface and FLOR brand names; luxury vinyl tiles; carpet tiles under the CQuestGB name for use in commercial interiors, include offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities, as well as residential interiors; and modular resilient flooring products.