Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 44,757 Shares of Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,333 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 44,757 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.23% of Interface worth $3,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Interface by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,116,464 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $148,936,000 after acquiring an additional 246,726 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Interface by 688.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 256,987 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $4,873,000 after purchasing an additional 224,395 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Interface by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,296 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $48,512,000 after purchasing an additional 218,113 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Interface by 139.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 308,884 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $7,521,000 after buying an additional 179,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interface by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 676,030 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $16,461,000 after buying an additional 139,150 shares during the last quarter. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel T. Hendrix sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total transaction of $149,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,132.65. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on TILE. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Interface in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Interface from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Interface Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TILE traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $18.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 380,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,729. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.13. Interface, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.13 and a 12-month high of $27.34.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $335.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.51 million. Interface had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 6.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Interface, Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Interface Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. Interface's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.72%.

Interface Profile

Interface, Inc designs, produces, and sells modular carpet products primarily worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Americas (AMS), and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (EAAA). The company offers modular carpets under the Interface and FLOR brand names; luxury vinyl tiles; carpet tiles under the CQuestGB name for use in commercial interiors, include offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities, as well as residential interiors; and modular resilient flooring products.