Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) Short Interest Down 13.4% in March

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,688,740 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the March 15th total of 7,723,706 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,460,578 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Genworth Financial Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of GNW stock opened at $8.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. Genworth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $6.29 and a fifty-two week high of $9.28.

Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter. Genworth Financial had a return on equity of 1.48% and a net margin of 3.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GNW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Genworth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “moderate buy” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Genworth Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Genworth Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genworth Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Genworth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,912,000. Gendell Jeffrey L grew its stake in Genworth Financial by 168.0% in the fourth quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 6,485,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,568,000 after acquiring an additional 4,065,684 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Genworth Financial by 621.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,598,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,099,582 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Genworth Financial by 41.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248,374 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Genworth Financial by 173.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,188,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,649,000 after acquiring an additional 754,105 shares during the period. 81.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) is a leading financial security company offering a broad range of insurance products. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Genworth provides individuals and families with solutions designed to protect against long-term care expenses, secure life insurance needs and support homeownership through private mortgage insurance. With operations spanning the United States, Canada and Australia, the company serves both retail and institutional clients through a diversified portfolio of risk management services.

The company’s Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) segment offers coverage to lenders and consumers in the US, Canada and Australia, enabling homebuyers to purchase properties with lower down payments.