Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) Short Interest Up 46.9% in March

Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,130,000 shares, an increase of 46.9% from the March 15th total of 769,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 250,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 6.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on IPAR. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Inter Parfums in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Inter Parfums from $158.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Inter Parfums in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $162.80.

Institutional Trading of Inter Parfums

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Inter Parfums during the 4th quarter valued at $46,649,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Inter Parfums in the fourth quarter worth $39,070,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Inter Parfums during the fourth quarter valued at $32,095,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Inter Parfums by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 563,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,125,000 after acquiring an additional 200,079 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Inter Parfums by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,124,728 shares of the company's stock worth $147,913,000 after purchasing an additional 108,321 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.57% of the company's stock.

Inter Parfums Stock Up 2.4 %

IPAR stock traded up $2.50 on Wednesday, reaching $108.26. 80,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 174,617. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.70. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23 and a beta of 1.15. Inter Parfums has a one year low of $97.65 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Inter Parfums (NASDAQ:IPAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.05). Inter Parfums had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $361.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $361.56 million. Research analysts anticipate that Inter Parfums will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Inter Parfums Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from Inter Parfums's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Inter Parfums's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.87%.

About Inter Parfums

Inter Parfums, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of fragrances and fragrance related products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, European Based Operations and United States Based Operations. The company offers its fragrance and cosmetic products under the Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Lanvin, Moncler, Montblanc, Rochas, S.T.