Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Short Interest Down 20.5% in April

Key Points

• Short interest fell 20.5% in April to 3,140,251 shares, equal to 5.6% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 4.9 days.
• Analysts’ consensus is a Moderate Buy (two Buy ratings, one Hold) with a consensus price target of $36.00.
• Interface beat EPS estimates ($0.49 vs. $0.40) while revenue of $349.39M slightly missed estimates, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.03 (annualized $0.12, ~0.4% yield).

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,140,251 shares, a decline of 20.5% from the March 31st total of 3,951,969 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 645,991 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on TILE. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Interface in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Interface from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Interface from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interface currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Interface Price Performance

TILE stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.56. The company had a trading volume of 143,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,581. Interface has a 1-year low of $18.68 and a 1-year high of $35.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.96.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The textile maker reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.09. Interface had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $349.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Interface will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Interface Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Interface's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Interface's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.12%.

Insider Activity at Interface

In related news, VP James Poppens sold 10,000 shares of Interface stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $294,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 119,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,515,572.32. This trade represents a 7.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 25,650 shares of company stock valued at $736,292 over the last 90 days. 2.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interface

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TILE. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Interface by 180.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 981 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in Interface in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Interface during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interface by 114.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Interface during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Interface

Interface, Inc NASDAQ: TILE is a global manufacturer of modular flooring and resilient commercial flooring solutions. The company specializes in carpet tiles, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and other environmentally responsible hard-surface products designed for use in corporate, education, healthcare, hospitality and retail environments. Interface's portfolio also includes broadloom carpet, rubber flooring and acoustic underlays, all engineered to meet performance, design and sustainability requirements in modern interior spaces.

Founded in 1973 by Ray C.

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