Short Interest in Hurco Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HURC) Drops By 9.5%

Hurco Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HURC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,400 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the February 29th total of 12,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hurco Companies Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ HURC traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $20.35. 17,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,140. The company has a market capitalization of $132.48 million, a P/E ratio of 94.90 and a beta of 0.42. Hurco Companies has a 52-week low of $19.29 and a 52-week high of $28.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $23.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.09.

Hurco Companies (NASDAQ:HURC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Hurco Companies had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $45.06 million for the quarter.

Hurco Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Hurco Companies's payout ratio is 304.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HURC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised Hurco Companies from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com cut Hurco Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hurco Companies by 18.6% in the third quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 193,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,348,000 after acquiring an additional 30,427 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hurco Companies by 27.2% in the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 74,340 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 15,902 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hurco Companies by 9.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 63,496 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,376 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hurco Companies by 25.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 307,622 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $7,789,000 after acquiring an additional 62,353 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hurco Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 31,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.36% of the company's stock.

Hurco Companies Company Profile

Hurco Companies, Inc, an industrial technology company, designs, manufactures, and sells computerized machine tools to companies in the metal cutting industry worldwide. Its principal products include general-purpose computerized machine tools, including vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, and toolroom machines.