GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GENK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GENK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 298,600 shares, an increase of 141.6% from the December 31st total of 123,600 shares. Approximately 6.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 54,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

GEN Restaurant Group Price Performance

NASDAQ GENK remained flat at $6.50 on Wednesday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,623. The stock has a market cap of $213.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24 and a beta of 1.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.23. GEN Restaurant Group has a 52 week low of $5.61 and a 52 week high of $14.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

GEN Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:GENK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $49.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.90 million. GEN Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 1.83% and a net margin of 0.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that GEN Restaurant Group will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Wook Jin Kim acquired 3,954 shares of GEN Restaurant Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.90 per share, for a total transaction of $31,236.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 135,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,067,234.70. This trade represents a 3.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 21,731 shares of company stock worth $171,740. Corporate insiders own 61.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GEN Restaurant Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GENK. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in GEN Restaurant Group by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 838,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,077,000 after acquiring an additional 352,922 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC increased its stake in shares of GEN Restaurant Group by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 219,990 shares of the company's stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 27,591 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of GEN Restaurant Group by 86.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 35,199 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 16,299 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in GEN Restaurant Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 372,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,146,000 after buying an additional 6,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. grew its holdings in GEN Restaurant Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bard Associates Inc. now owns 175,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 2,956 shares during the last quarter. 10.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of GEN Restaurant Group in a report on Monday, November 18th.

About GEN Restaurant Group

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc operates restaurants in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, New York, and Florida. It offers meats, poultry, and seafood. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Cerritos, California.

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