Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Short Interest Update

Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,210,000 shares, an increase of 34.9% from the January 31st total of 2,380,000 shares. Approximately 6.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DENN shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Denny's from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Denny's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Denny's from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.75.

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Denny's Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of DENN traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,037,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,316. Denny's has a one year low of $4.00 and a one year high of $9.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 2.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $5.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.16.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny's had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. On average, research analysts predict that Denny's will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Denny's news, CEO Kelli Valade bought 9,700 shares of Denny's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.13 per share, with a total value of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares in the company, valued at $989,094.78. The trade was a 5.30 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen C. Dunn purchased 9,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $577,423.28. This represents a 9.45 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457 over the last ninety days. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Denny's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners boosted its position in Denny's by 2,820.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,665,893 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,081,000 after buying an additional 1,608,854 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Denny's by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,381,120 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,908,000 after acquiring an additional 583,660 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Denny's by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,138,473 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,888,000 after acquiring an additional 568,266 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Denny's by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,665,680 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,077,000 after acquiring an additional 274,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Denny's by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,559,063 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,432,000 after acquiring an additional 267,694 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Denny's Company Profile

Denny's Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny's and Other segments. The Denny's segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny's restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.