Short Interest in IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT) Expands By 20.4%

IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 214,400 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 178,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 99,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of IDT from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th.

IDT Price Performance

Shares of IDT stock traded down $0.75 on Friday, reaching $48.77. 67,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 93,889. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.28 and a 200-day moving average of $48.74. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 0.58. IDT has a one year low of $33.84 and a one year high of $58.77.

IDT (NYSE:IDT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 22.18% and a net margin of 6.10%. The firm had revenue of $303.35 million during the quarter.

IDT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This is an increase from IDT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. IDT's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO David Wartell sold 10,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.99, for a total value of $525,907.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 25.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in IDT during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of IDT during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in IDT by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in IDT during the 4th quarter valued at $129,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in IDT during the 4th quarter worth $134,000. 59.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About IDT

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.