Dawson Geophysical Company (NASDAQ:DWSN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 52% in March to 116,183 shares (about 0.4% of float), leaving a very low short-interest ratio of 0.3 days based on average daily volume.
• Dawson missed expectations this quarter, reporting $0.02 EPS vs. $0.06 expected and revenue of $26.95M vs. $45.0M expected, with negative net margin and return on equity.
• Analyst and institutional activity is mixed: Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to a Buy but the MarketBeat consensus remains a Hold, while hedge funds and institutions (owning ~7.9% total) have recently added modest stakes.

Dawson Geophysical Company (NASDAQ:DWSN - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 116,183 shares, a growth of 52.0% from the March 15th total of 76,422 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 365,734 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dawson Geophysical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Dawson Geophysical in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Dawson Geophysical currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Dawson Geophysical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DWSN traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.69. 9,297 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 149,248. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.33. The company has a market cap of $83.37 million, a PE ratio of -38.36 and a beta of -0.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Dawson Geophysical has a 12-month low of $1.08 and a 12-month high of $5.54.

Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.04). Dawson Geophysical had a negative return on equity of 11.82% and a negative net margin of 2.57%.The firm had revenue of $26.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.00 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dawson Geophysical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DWSN. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Dawson Geophysical in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Grace & White Inc. NY lifted its stake in Dawson Geophysical by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 909,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 43,457 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dawson Geophysical in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Dawson Geophysical by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 52,360 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 8,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Dawson Geophysical in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.86% of the company's stock.

Dawson Geophysical Company Profile

Dawson Geophysical Company provides land-based seismic data acquisition services to the oil and gas industry. Through its subsidiaries, the company specializes in the design, deployment and operation of seismic crews that collect high-fidelity subsurface data. Its services support exploration and development programs by delivering two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D) and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys that enable clients to make informed drilling and reservoir management decisions.

The company's fleet includes vibratory and impulsive seismic sources, high-capacity source trucks, geophone sensor arrays and digital recording systems.

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