IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT) Short Interest Update

IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 371,300 shares, an increase of 69.3% from the April 30th total of 219,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 130,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised IDT from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th.

IDT Stock Performance

NYSE:IDT traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 273,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,159. IDT has a 52-week low of $33.84 and a 52-week high of $62.97. The business's 50-day moving average is $53.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.69.

IDT (NYSE:IDT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter. IDT had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 22.18%. The business had revenue of $303.35 million for the quarter.

IDT Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from IDT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. IDT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.62%.

Insider Transactions at IDT

In other IDT news, CTO David Wartell sold 10,735 shares of IDT stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.99, for a total value of $525,907.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 25.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IDT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in IDT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in IDT by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 5,329 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in IDT in the fourth quarter valued at $286,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IDT in the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IDT by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,265,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,152,000 after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the last quarter. 59.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About IDT

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.