Komatsu Ltd. (OTCMKTS:KMTUY) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Komatsu Ltd.'s short interest dropped by 24.5% in August, falling from 46,600 shares on July 31st to 35,200 shares by mid-August.
• Analyst ratings for Komatsu have worsened, with Zacks Research downgrading the stock from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating.
• In its latest quarterly earnings report, Komatsu reported an EPS of $0.69, missing expectations, and revenue of $6.12 billion, also below estimates.

Komatsu Ltd. (OTCMKTS:KMTUY - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 35,200 shares, a drop of 24.5% from the July 31st total of 46,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 168,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 168,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Komatsu from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

Komatsu Stock Down 0.8%

KMTUY stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.42. 24,492 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,943. The company has a market capitalization of $33.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Komatsu has a twelve month low of $24.75 and a twelve month high of $37.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.23.

Komatsu (OTCMKTS:KMTUY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $6.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.49 billion. Komatsu had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 10.37%. On average, research analysts forecast that Komatsu will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Komatsu

Komatsu Ltd. manufactures and sells construction, mining, and utility equipment in Japan, the Americas, Europe, China, Rest of Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa, and CIS countries. It operates through three segments: Construction, Mining and Utility Equipment; Retail Finance; and Industrial Machinery and Others.