Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT) Short Interest Down 7.3% in October

Hooker Furnishings Co. (NASDAQ:HOFT - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 161,400 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the October 15th total of 174,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 23,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hooker Furnishings Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HOFT traded up $0.14 on Monday, reaching $17.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,407. Hooker Furnishings has a 52-week low of $13.09 and a 52-week high of $27.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.03. The company has a market cap of $192.46 million, a P/E ratio of 137.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Hooker Furnishings (NASDAQ:HOFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.06). Hooker Furnishings had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 0.72%. The company had revenue of $95.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hooker Furnishings will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hooker Furnishings Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Hooker Furnishings's dividend payout ratio is presently 707.75%.

Institutional Trading of Hooker Furnishings

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Hooker Furnishings by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,614 shares of the company's stock worth $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 624,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,042,000 after acquiring an additional 120,219 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hooker Furnishings by 95.1% in the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 70,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 34,410 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hooker Furnishings in the 1st quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC acquired a new position in Hooker Furnishings during the second quarter worth $1,180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.63% of the company's stock.

About Hooker Furnishings

Hooker Furnishings Corporation designs, manufactures, imports, and markets residential household, hospitality, and contract furniture. It operates in three segments: Hooker Branded, Home Meridian, and Domestic Upholstery. The Hooker Branded segment offers design categories, including home entertainment, home office, accent, dining, and bedroom furniture under the Hooker Furniture brand; and imported upholstered furniture under the Hooker Upholstery brand.