Short Interest in Hibbett, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) Decreases By 14.9%

Hibbett, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the March 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Approximately 13.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 237,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on HIBB shares. B. Riley lifted their target price on Hibbett from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Williams Trading reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Hibbett in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Hibbett from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 target price (down from $82.00) on shares of Hibbett in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hibbett

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in Hibbett by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 17,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hibbett by 70.3% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 6,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hibbett in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,654,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hibbett by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 892,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,258,000 after purchasing an additional 31,679 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hibbett in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.08% of the company's stock.

Hibbett Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HIBB traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $70.77. 302,311 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,360. Hibbett has a 1-year low of $34.86 and a 1-year high of $83.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $835.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $74.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.51.

Hibbett (NASDAQ:HIBB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.01. Hibbett had a return on equity of 25.72% and a net margin of 5.97%. The business had revenue of $466.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $477.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hibbett will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hibbett Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Hibbett's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.21%.

Hibbett Company Profile

Hibbett, Inc together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of athletic-inspired fashion products in the United States. Its stores offer a range of merchandise, including athletic footwear, athletic and fashion apparel, team sports equipment, and related accessories. The company operates Hibbett stores, City Gear stores, and Sports Additions athletic shoe stores.

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