Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNT) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in Fluent fell sharply in June, dropping 58.5% to 82,984 shares by June 30. That equals about 0.5% of shares outstanding and a 1.5-day days-to-cover ratio.
• Insider activity was mixed: major shareholder Global Value Investment Corp. bought 61,368 shares, while CEO Donald Huntley Patrick sold 19,230 shares to cover tax withholding tied to equity awards.
• Analysts remain moderately bullish on Fluent, with Lake Street Capital initiating coverage at a buy rating and a $5 price target. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” above the stock’s recent trading price of $3.70.

Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 82,984 shares, a drop of 58.5% from the June 15th total of 200,168 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 55,458 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Global Value Investment Corp. acquired 61,368 shares of Fluent stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.75 per share, with a total value of $168,762.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 3,151,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,665,371. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald Huntley Patrick sold 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.58, for a total transaction of $49,613.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 312,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $806,133.90. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 132,736 shares of company stock valued at $358,260 and have sold 29,120 shares valued at $75,197. 38.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fluent

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mink Brook Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fluent during the third quarter worth approximately $634,000. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Fluent by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. now owns 22,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Fluent by 117.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 508,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 274,533 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fluent in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 15,777 shares during the period. 23.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Lake Street Capital started coverage on shares of Fluent in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fluent has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.25.

Fluent Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of Fluent stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,541. Fluent has a 1-year low of $1.70 and a 1-year high of $4.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.33 million, a P/E ratio of -4.25 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.14.

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $44.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. Fluent had a negative return on equity of 132.41% and a negative net margin of 12.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fluent will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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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