Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSET) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Bassett Furniture Industries experienced a 24.1% decline in short interest in August, with total short interest at 201,800 shares, indicating 2.8% of the company's shares are currently short sold.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.9%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 275.86%.
• Recent analyst ratings changes include a downgrade from "strong-buy" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus rating currently holding at "Hold."

Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSET - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 201,800 shares, a drop of 24.1% from the August 15th total of 265,900 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 49,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 49,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John E. Bassett III sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $37,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 50,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $942,124.16. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BSET. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $158,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 192.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 71,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 46,847 shares during the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 49.3% during the first quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC now owns 298,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,552,000 after buying an additional 98,520 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 571,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 97.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 12,258 shares during the last quarter. 54.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bassett Furniture Industries Trading Down 0.4%

BSET traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 110,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,914. Bassett Furniture Industries has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $19.75. The stock has a market cap of $140.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $16.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.55.

Bassett Furniture Industries (NASDAQ:BSET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.07. Bassett Furniture Industries had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 1.48%. The business had revenue of $84.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bassett Furniture Industries will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Bassett Furniture Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Bassett Furniture Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 275.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BSET. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bassett Furniture Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bassett Furniture Industries from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Bassett Furniture Industries currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

About Bassett Furniture Industries

Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and retails home furnishings in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Wholesale, Retail Company-Owned Stores, and Corporate and Other. The company engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, sale, and distribution of furniture products, including dining, bedroom and bedding, home decorations, rugs, and outdoor furniture to a network of company-owned retail stores, licensee-owned stores, and independent retailers.