Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 24.0% to 65,094 shares as of March 13, representing about 0.3% of the float and a short-interest ratio of 1.4 days.
• Insiders bought shares: Global Value Investment Corp. and director James Geygan each purchased 65,148 shares at $3.47 on March 13, boosting insider ownership to 43.51%.
• Earnings miss and continued unprofitability: Fluent reported Q EPS of ($0.09) vs. ($0.04) expected and revenue slightly below estimates, with negative net margin and ROE; analysts have a consensus Hold rating and a $3.50 average price target.

Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 65,094 shares, a decline of 24.0% from the February 26th total of 85,638 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 47,555 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Fluent Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of FLNT opened at $3.23 on Friday. Fluent has a 12 month low of $1.50 and a 12 month high of $4.15. The stock's 50-day moving average is $3.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $95.74 million, a PE ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $61.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.85 million. Fluent had a negative net margin of 13.01% and a negative return on equity of 115.19%. Equities analysts forecast that Fluent will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Fluent news, major shareholder Global Value Investment Corp. bought 65,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.47 per share, with a total value of $226,063.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,089,676 shares in the company, valued at $10,721,175.72. This trade represents a 2.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James Geygan purchased 65,148 shares of Fluent stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.47 per share, for a total transaction of $226,063.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,040,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,551,072.85. This represents a 2.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 164,835 shares of company stock worth $572,666 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 43.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Fluent

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FLNT. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fluent during the fourth quarter worth $84,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in Fluent by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 39,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 15,777 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fluent by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 144,713 shares of the company's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 44,684 shares during the period. Finally, Mink Brook Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fluent in the 3rd quarter worth $634,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Fluent from $2.50 to $3.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $3.50.

About Fluent

Fluent, Inc is a performance marketing and customer acquisition platform that helps consumer brands drive leads and sales through data-driven digital campaigns. The company specializes in direct-response marketing, executing campaigns across multiple channels including email, display, paid search, social media and native advertising. By focusing on measurable outcomes such as cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, Fluent tailors solutions to meet the specific objectives of its clients.

The company's proprietary technology leverages first-party data sourced from its network of consumer-facing digital properties and programmatic partnerships.

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