Weyco Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WEYS) Short Interest Up 41.5% in December

Weyco Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:WEYS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 52,200 shares, an increase of 41.5% from the December 15th total of 36,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Weyco Group

In other Weyco Group news, VP Allison Woss sold 1,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total transaction of $55,316.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,623 shares in the company, valued at $288,225.63. The trade was a 16.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Damian Walton sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.21, for a total value of $38,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,406.30. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,685 shares of company stock valued at $214,730 over the last quarter. 38.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Weyco Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEYS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Weyco Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 558,954 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $16,947,000 after buying an additional 8,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Weyco Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 154,827 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $5,271,000 after acquiring an additional 5,307 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Weyco Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,832 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Weyco Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,042 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Weyco Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,726 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 23.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Weyco Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Weyco Group Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ:WEYS traded up $1.17 on Wednesday, hitting $35.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,207. Weyco Group has a 52 week low of $27.05 and a 52 week high of $41.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $340.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.09.

Weyco Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 25.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Weyco Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Weyco Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

About Weyco Group

Weyco Group, Inc designs and distributes footwear for men, women, and children. It operates in two segments, North American Wholesale Operations and North American Retail Operations. The company offers mid-priced leather dress shoes and casual footwear of man-made materials and leather; and outdoor boots, shoes, and sandals under the Florsheim, Nunn Bush, Stacy Adams, BOGS, Rafters, and Forsake brands.