FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN) Short Interest Up 26.9% in May

FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, an increase of 26.9% from the May 15th total of 945,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 428,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ajay Sabherwal sold 5,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.60, for a total value of $861,845.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,078,294.20. This trade represents a 17.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of FTI Consulting by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,065,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,060,000 after buying an additional 149,276 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in FTI Consulting by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,564,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $681,249,000 after acquiring an additional 23,419 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in FTI Consulting by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,415,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $560,375,000 after acquiring an additional 28,968 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of FTI Consulting by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,549,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $254,288,000 after purchasing an additional 153,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FTI Consulting by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,018,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,737,000 after purchasing an additional 472,245 shares during the period. 99.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FTI Consulting Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE FCN opened at $161.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.76. FTI Consulting has a 12 month low of $151.75 and a 12 month high of $243.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 0.19.

FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.50. FTI Consulting had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 7.14%. The company had revenue of $898.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $906.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FTI Consulting will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FTI Consulting announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 6.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut shares of FTI Consulting from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on FTI Consulting from $194.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of FTI Consulting in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut FTI Consulting from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting, Inc provides business advisory services to manage change, mitigate risk, and resolve disputes worldwide. The company operates through Corporate Finance & Restructuring, Forensic and Litigation Consulting, Economic Consulting, Technology, and Strategic Communications segments. The Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment provides business transformation and strategy, transactions, and turnaround and restructuring services.