Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest surged 162.1% to 145,654 shares as of April 15, equal to about 2.1% of the float and a days-to-cover ratio of 0.8.
• Optical Cable reported a quarterly loss of $0.05 EPS on $16.43 million in revenue, has negative profitability metrics, and its shares were recently down 4.3% trading near $12.32 (market cap ~ $109M).
• Analysts and institutions: Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (D-)" and the stock's consensus rating is "Sell," while institutional holders own roughly 13.6% after several hedge funds added small positions.

Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 145,654 shares, an increase of 162.1% from the March 31st total of 55,563 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 192,207 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Optical Cable Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of OCC stock opened at $12.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $108.79 million, a P/E ratio of -136.87 and a beta of 0.35. Optical Cable has a 52 week low of $2.44 and a 52 week high of $13.95. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $8.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.24.

Optical Cable (NASDAQ:OCC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $16.43 million during the quarter. Optical Cable had a negative return on equity of 4.14% and a negative net margin of 1.01%.

Institutional Trading of Optical Cable

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Optical Cable in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Optical Cable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $102,000. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Optical Cable by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,600 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Optical Cable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $135,000. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Optical Cable during the 4th quarter valued at about $139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Optical Cable in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Sell".

About Optical Cable

Optical Cable Corporation NASDAQ: OCC is a publicly traded designer and manufacturer of optical fiber and copper communications cable solutions. Headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, the company develops a broad range of standard and custom cable assemblies, connectors, hardware and accessories. Its product portfolio addresses data transmission requirements in demanding environments, including long-haul telecommunications, industrial automation, defense systems and submersible applications.

The company's offerings are organized across multiple product lines, encompassing outside-plant fiber optic cable for aerial and underground installations, indoor/outdoor copper connectivity and specialty engineered cable assemblies.

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