Short Interest in Green Dot Co. (NYSE:GDOT) Decreases By 15.6%

Green Dot Co. (NYSE:GDOT - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a decrease of 15.6% from the April 30th total of 1,800,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Green Dot from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Green Dot from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Green Dot from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Green Dot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Green Dot from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christian Devin Ruppel sold 10,189 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $112,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 253,139 shares in the company, valued at $2,784,529. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GDOT. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Green Dot by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 185,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 9,044 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Green Dot by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 260,772 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Green Dot by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 11,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Green Dot by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Green Dot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $294,000. Institutional investors own 92.56% of the company's stock.

Green Dot Price Performance

NYSE:GDOT traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.24. 543,246 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,111. Green Dot has a 12 month low of $6.12 and a 12 month high of $13.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.52 and a 200 day moving average of $8.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $507.03 million, a PE ratio of -8.80 and a beta of 0.73.

Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $555.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $503.20 million. Green Dot had a negative net margin of 3.39% and a positive return on equity of 3.84%. The company's revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Green Dot will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Green Dot Company Profile

Green Dot Corporation, a financial technology and registered bank holding company, provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer Services, Business to Business Services, and Money Movement Services. The company provides deposit account programs, including consumer and small business checking account products, network-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards and gift cards, and secured credit programs.