Franklin Covey Company (NYSE:FC) Short Interest Up 23.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 23.0% in March to 1,954,561 shares (short-interest ratio ~10.5 days), with roughly 20% of the company's shares shorted.
• Hedge funds hold a large portion of the stock (about 69.88% institutional ownership), and several managers materially increased stakes recently (e.g., AllianceBernstein +70.4%, Millennium +886.1%, Federated Hermes +83.9%).
• Analysts are mixed — the consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $26 — while Franklin Covey recently missed EPS (‑$0.03 vs. $0.03 expected) despite a slight revenue beat; the stock trades near $23.16 with a market cap of about $261M.

Franklin Covey Company (NYSE:FC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,954,561 shares, an increase of 23.0% from the March 15th total of 1,588,509 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 186,318 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.5 days. Approximately 20.0% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Covey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Franklin Covey by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,052,680 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,433,000 after purchasing an additional 434,965 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Covey by 886.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 259,618 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,039,000 after purchasing an additional 233,291 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Covey by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 376,393 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,316,000 after purchasing an additional 171,744 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Covey in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,275,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Covey by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 174,324 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,384,000 after purchasing an additional 96,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FC. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Franklin Covey in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Franklin Covey in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.00.

Franklin Covey Price Performance

Franklin Covey stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.16. 99,780 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 193,983. Franklin Covey has a 1 year low of $11.16 and a 1 year high of $24.70. The firm has a market cap of $260.96 million, a P/E ratio of -110.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.11.

Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.06). Franklin Covey had a positive return on equity of 12.79% and a negative net margin of 0.88%.The firm had revenue of $59.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.71 million. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Covey will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Covey Company Profile

Franklin Covey Co NYSE: FC is a global consulting and training firm specializing in performance improvement solutions for individuals and organizations. The company offers a range of services, including leadership development, productivity tools, execution frameworks and assessments designed to foster personal effectiveness and drive business results. Its flagship offerings integrate training workshops, digital resources and coaching to support clients in areas such as strategic planning, team productivity and change management.

The origins of Franklin Covey trace back to the merger in 1997 of Franklin Quest Co, founded in 1983 by Hyrum W.

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