Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALCO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 346,600 shares, a growth of 22.5% from the March 15th total of 282,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 67,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alico

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALCO. Abundance Wealth Counselors lifted its stake in shares of Alico by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 19,776 shares of the company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 8,755 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alico during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,232,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alico by 76.8% in the first quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 43,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 19,057 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alico by 8,107.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Alico during the fourth quarter worth $675,000. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alico Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALCO traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 665 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,419. Alico has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $34.08. The firm has a market cap of $220.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 0.83. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 2.37 and a current ratio of 4.84.

Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.27). Alico had a negative net margin of 91.09% and a negative return on equity of 3.01%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alico will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alico Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. Alico's dividend payout ratio is presently -3.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Alico to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Alico Company Profile

Alico, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an agribusiness and land management company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Alico Citrus, and Land Management and Other Operations. The Alico Citrus segment engages in planting, owning, cultivating, and/or managing citrus groves to produce fruit for sale to fresh and processed citrus markets, including activities related to the purchase and resale of fruit and value-added services, which include contracting for the harvesting, marketing, and hauling of citrus.