CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• CTS Corporation experienced a 50.5% increase in short interest for September, reaching a total of 454,000 shares shorted, indicating growing bearish sentiment among investors.
• The company reported earnings of $0.57 per share in its latest quarterly results, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.55, with total revenue of $135.30 million.
• CTS has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.4%, being indicative of the company's ongoing commitment to return value to shareholders.

CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 454,000 shares, a growth of 50.5% from the September 15th total of 301,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 199,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Approximately 1.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 199,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

CTS Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CTS opened at $40.85 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.93 and its 200 day moving average is $40.74. CTS has a fifty-two week low of $34.02 and a fifty-two week high of $59.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.61.

CTS (NYSE:CTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. CTS had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $135.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $132.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CTS will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CTS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 26th. CTS's payout ratio is presently 7.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CTS by 17.3% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,863 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC boosted its stake in CTS by 7.8% during the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in CTS by 2.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,199 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in CTS by 81.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in CTS by 11.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,036 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. 96.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CTS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CTS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of CTS in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold".

About CTS

CTS Corporation manufactures and sells sensors, actuators, and connectivity components in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides encoders, rotary position sensors, slide potentiometers, industrial and commercial rotary potentiometers. It also provides non-contacting, and contacting pedals; and eBrake pedals.

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