Flowco Holdings Inc. (NYSE:FLOC) Short Interest Up 73.2% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 73.2% — short interest rose to 947,609 shares as of March 31 (about 3.5% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 0.8.
• Heavy insider selling — Director Jonathan B. Fairbanks sold 1,170,000 shares for $24.78M on March 26, and insiders have sold 9,073,890 shares (≈$192.27M) over the last 90 days while owning 69.76% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.25, alongside recent upgrades and higher targets from Piper Sandler, Jefferies, BMO and Zacks.

Flowco Holdings Inc. (NYSE:FLOC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 947,609 shares, an increase of 73.2% from the March 15th total of 547,106 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,229,222 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Flowco Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE FLOC traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.54. 378,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 523,723. Flowco has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $24.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Flowco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Flowco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Flowco

In other Flowco news, Director Jonathan B. Fairbanks sold 1,170,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.18, for a total transaction of $24,780,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chad Roberts sold 54,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.39, for a total transaction of $1,224,867.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,008 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,309.12. This represents a 44.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,073,890 shares of company stock worth $192,265,282. 69.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowco

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLOC. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Flowco by 4.4% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 23,997 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Flowco by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,858 shares of the company's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Flowco by 95.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,643 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Flowco by 8,929.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Flowco in the fourth quarter worth $29,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Flowco from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Flowco in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Flowco from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flowco from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Flowco in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Flowco presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.25.

About Flowco

We are a leading provider of production optimization, artificial lift and methane abatement solutions for the oil and natural gas industry. Our products and services include a full range of equipment and technology solutions that enable our customers to efficiently and cost-effectively maximize the profitability and economic lifespan of the production phase of their operations. Our principal products and services are organized into two business segments: (i) Production Solutions; and (ii) Natural Gas Technologies.

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