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

Key Points

• Short interest in Bassett Furniture Industries fell sharply in June, dropping 67.4% to 73,521 shares by June 30. That leaves just 0.9% of the float sold short and a short-interest ratio of 0.5 days.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results on July 1, posting EPS of $0.24 versus the $0.20 consensus and revenue of $83.75 million, slightly above estimates. Earnings also improved from $0.22 per share in the same quarter last year.
• Analyst sentiment has turned more positive, with recent upgrades from Weiss Ratings, Zacks Research, and Wall Street Zen. MarketBeat data shows an overall average rating of Buy.

Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated (NASDAQ:BSET - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 73,521 shares, a decline of 67.4% from the June 15th total of 225,622 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 143,821 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bassett Furniture Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BSET. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Bassett Furniture Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $300,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 9.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,076 shares of the company's stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 4.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 304,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries by 5.2% in the first quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 526,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,457,000 after purchasing an additional 25,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,000. 54.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bassett Furniture Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSET opened at $20.86 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $15.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.49. Bassett Furniture Industries has a 52-week low of $13.17 and a 52-week high of $21.25. The company has a market capitalization of $180.65 million, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.76.

Bassett Furniture Industries (NASDAQ:BSET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.04. Bassett Furniture Industries had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 3.56%. The company had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $83.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bassett Furniture Industries will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bassett Furniture Industries from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research raised Bassett Furniture Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bassett Furniture Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bassett Furniture Industries presently has an average rating of "Buy".

About Bassett Furniture Industries

Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc NASDAQ: BSET, headquartered in Bassett, Virginia, is a vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer of residential home furnishings. The company designs, produces and markets a range of furniture items, including upholstered seating, wood case goods, bedroom collections, dining room sets and home décor accessories. Bassett is known for its emphasis on craftsmanship, offering both ready-to-assemble pieces and made-to-order products that cater to varying design preferences and space requirements.

Bassett's products are sold through a dual-channel distribution network comprising company-owned Bassett Home Furnishings stores, a franchise and independent dealer network, and an e-commerce platform that provides online shopping, virtual design consultations and customization tools.

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