PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 152,700 shares, a decrease of 27.3% from the March 15th total of 209,900 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 73,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of PLDT by 17.3% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,270 shares of the technology company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in PLDT by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 29,746 shares of the technology company's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,221 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of PLDT by 51.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PLDT by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 42,876 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in PLDT by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,640 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the period. 2.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PLDT from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

PLDT Trading Down 0.2 %

PLDT stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,525. PLDT has a 1 year low of $20.29 and a 1 year high of $29.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average is $23.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.13.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. PLDT had a net margin of 12.34% and a return on equity of 22.11%. The firm had revenue of $960.62 million for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that PLDT will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

PLDT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.812 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 5.4%. PLDT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.42%.

About PLDT

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.