SelectQuote, Inc. (NYSE:SLQT) Short Interest Up 53.9% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 53.9% — short interest climbed to 4,753,933 shares as of March 31 (a 53.9% increase from March 15), representing about 3.1% of shares outstanding and a days-to-cover ratio of 4.0.
• Mixed analyst and fundamental picture — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $2.92; the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.26 vs. $0.17) but the stock trades around $0.73 with a market cap of $129.4 million.

SelectQuote, Inc. (NYSE:SLQT - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,753,933 shares, a growth of 53.9% from the March 15th total of 3,088,796 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,174,349 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of SelectQuote

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in SelectQuote in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in SelectQuote by 90.7% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 7,675 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in SelectQuote in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in SelectQuote in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, GatePass Capital LLC increased its stake in SelectQuote by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 210,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 24,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 34.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SLQT shares. Zacks Research raised shares of SelectQuote from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of SelectQuote from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SelectQuote from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Craig Hallum set a $3.00 price target on shares of SelectQuote in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of SelectQuote from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SelectQuote has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.92.

SelectQuote Stock Up 6.1%

NYSE:SLQT traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $0.73. The stock had a trading volume of 289,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,411,694. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $129.40 million, a PE ratio of 73.87 and a beta of 1.36. SelectQuote has a twelve month low of $0.56 and a twelve month high of $3.43. The company has a current ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 5.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

SelectQuote (NYSE:SLQT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $537.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $530.73 million. SelectQuote had a net margin of 4.80% and a return on equity of 14.85%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SelectQuote will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

About SelectQuote

SelectQuote, Inc NYSE: SLQT is a U.S.-based insurance brokerage and lead generation company that connects consumers with a range of insurance products through proprietary technology and licensed agents. The company specializes in life insurance, supplemental health coverage and Medicare plans, leveraging its digital platform and call center operations to help individuals compare policies and find cost-effective solutions tailored to their needs.

Through a single point of contact, policy seekers can evaluate offerings from multiple carriers, including term life, whole life, accidental death, critical illness and long-term care products.

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