IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 28.5% from the May 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 346,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 9.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IPG Photonics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in IPG Photonics by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 12,310 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in IPG Photonics by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,274 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,201 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.79% of the company's stock.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

Shares of IPG Photonics stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.01. The company had a trading volume of 673,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,867. The company's 50-day moving average is $62.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.19. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.90. IPG Photonics has a twelve month low of $48.59 and a twelve month high of $92.21.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.10. IPG Photonics had a negative net margin of 21.18% and a positive return on equity of 2.56%. The company had revenue of $227.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. IPG Photonics's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that IPG Photonics will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

IPG Photonics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IPGP shares. CL King raised shares of IPG Photonics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of IPG Photonics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.50.

IPG Photonics Company Profile

IPG Photonics Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells various high-performance fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and diode lasers used in various applications primarily in materials processing worldwide. Its laser products include hybrid fiber-solid state lasers with green and ultraviolet wavelengths; fiber pigtailed packaged diodes and fiber coupled direct diode laser systems; high-energy pulsed lasers, multi-wavelength and tunable lasers, and single-polarization and single-frequency lasers; and high-power optical fiber delivery cables, fiber couplers, beam switches, chillers, scanners, and other accessories.