B. Riley Financial Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:RILY)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders purchased 12,307 call options on B. Riley Financial, about 40% above the typical volume of 8,801 contracts.
• Stock performance and financials: Shares rose 3.8% to $5.31, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.45 and revenue of $239.36 million. Its debt-to-equity ratio remained high at 7.13.
• Analyst sentiment remains negative: Recent rating changes included downgrades to “hold” and “sell,” with the stock carrying an average “Sell” rating, despite hedge funds and institutions owning 50.2% of shares.

B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 12,307 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical volume of 8,801 call options.

B. Riley Financial Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ RILY traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $5.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 738,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,872. B. Riley Financial has a 12-month low of $3.64 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The firm has a market cap of $213.30 million, a P/E ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day moving average is $6.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.13.

B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The asset manager reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $239.36 million for the quarter. B. Riley Financial had a net margin of 35.88% and a return on equity of 39,260.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on RILY shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of B. Riley Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of B. Riley Financial from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Sell".

Institutional Trading of B. Riley Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in B. Riley Financial by 2,715.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 53,830 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 51,918 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of B. Riley Financial in the first quarter worth $1,832,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of B. Riley Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.20% of the company's stock.

About B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, institutional brokerage, wealth management, asset management and related advisory services. Through its operating businesses, the company serves corporations, institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, private equity sponsors and other financial market participants.

Its businesses have included B. Riley Securities, which offers investment banking, equity research, sales and trading, and corporate finance services; B.

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