VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 52.3% to 148,296 shares as of August 31, representing about 0.9% of outstanding shares and 2.1 days to cover.
• VOC Energy Trust reported quarterly EPS of $0.10 on $1.70 million in revenue, while shares opened at $3.36 and have traded between $2.63 and $3.84 over the past year.
• The trust raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28, implying a 33.4% annualized yield, although its payout ratio is elevated at 273.17%; analysts maintain an overall “Sell” rating.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 148,296 shares, a drop of 52.3% from the August 15th total of 310,649 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 69,922 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of VOC Energy Trust in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Sell".

VOC Energy Trust Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:VOC opened at $3.36 on Monday. VOC Energy Trust has a 12-month low of $2.63 and a 12-month high of $3.84. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $3.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.05 million, a P/E ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.14.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter. VOC Energy Trust had a return on equity of 68.92% and a net margin of 91.51%.The business had revenue of $1.70 million during the quarter.

VOC Energy Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from VOC Energy Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 33.4%. VOC Energy Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in VOC Energy Trust stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of VOC Energy Trust as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

VOC Energy Trust Company Profile

VOC Energy Trust is a Canada-based unincorporated, open-ended royalty trust focused on upstream oil and gas interests. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the trust holds non-operated royalty and net profit interests in conventional petroleum and natural gas properties. VOC's structure allows it to collect a percentage of production revenues without directly managing exploration or drilling activities.

The trust's asset portfolio is concentrated in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, with producing properties across Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

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