Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY)

Key Points

• Call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 19,281 RILY call options, 122% above the stock’s typical daily call volume.
• Institutional ownership stands at 50.20%, with Bank of America significantly increasing its stake and Renaissance Technologies establishing a new position.
• RILY shares traded at $4.39, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while analysts maintained a broadly negative outlook with an average “Sell” rating.

B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 19,281 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 122% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,667 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B. Riley Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of B. Riley Financial during the first quarter worth $359,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of B. Riley Financial by 2,715.4% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in B. Riley Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,832,000. 50.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

B. Riley Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RILY stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $4.39. 872,880 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 945,933. B. Riley Financial has a fifty-two week low of $3.64 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.68 million, a P/E ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.34.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

RILY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded B. Riley Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of B. Riley Financial from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to data from MarketBeat, B. Riley Financial has an average rating of "Sell".

About B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides investment banking, institutional brokerage, wealth management, asset appraisal, valuation, liquidation and restructuring services. Through its businesses, the company works with public and private companies, institutional investors, private equity firms, financial institutions and individual clients.

The company's capital markets operations, including B. Riley Securities, offer investment banking, equity research, sales and trading, and related advisory services.

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