Ahold NV (OTCMKTS:ADRNY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in Ahold NV surged to 28,229 shares as of June 30, up 1,332.9% from 1,970 shares two weeks earlier. Even with the jump, short interest remains very small relative to trading volume.
• The stock rose slightly to €40.80 on Friday, with trading volume well above its average. Ahold’s shares remain below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock, with recent downgrades from Zacks Research and Goldman Sachs offset by a rating increase from Royal Bank of Canada. Overall, MarketBeat shows an average rating of Moderate Buy.

Ahold NV (OTCMKTS:ADRNY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 28,229 shares, a growth of 1,332.9% from the June 15th total of 1,970 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 206,633 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days. Approximately 0.0% of the company's stock are short sold.

Ahold Stock Performance

Shares of ADRNY stock traded up €0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting €40.80. The stock had a trading volume of 886,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,449. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average is €41.97 and its 200 day moving average is €43.71. Ahold has a twelve month low of €32.25 and a twelve month high of €50.02.

Ahold (OTCMKTS:ADRNY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported €0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of €0.70 by €0.03. Ahold had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The firm had revenue of €26.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of €26.24 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ahold will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ADRNY shares. Zacks Research downgraded Ahold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ahold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ahold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Ahold to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ahold presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

About Ahold

Ahold Delhaize (often shortened to Ahold) is an international retail grocery group that operates supermarkets, online grocery platforms and related food retail services. The company's operations span both brick-and-mortar stores and digital channels, offering a mix of fresh foods, packaged groceries, household goods and private-label products. Its business model combines local store networks with centralized purchasing, distribution and supply-chain capabilities to serve everyday consumer needs.

The firm was formed through the 2016 merger of Koninklijke Ahold and Delhaize Group, creating a combined network of banners and ecommerce platforms across multiple geographies.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.