Short Interest in Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS) Drops By 45.5%

Key Points

• Short interest in Grifols fell 45.5% to 3.46 million shares as of July 31, equivalent to 0.5% of shares outstanding and 3.8 days of average trading volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Grifols has an average “Reduce” rating, with two Hold ratings and one Sell rating, and an average price target of $10.00.
• GRFS shares slipped 0.1% to $7.77, while institutional investors including Brandes Investment Partners, Flat Footed, and Quantinno Capital increased their holdings; the company also paid a special dividend of $0.0945 per share.

Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,455,645 shares, a drop of 45.5% from the July 15th total of 6,340,082 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 917,661 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on GRFS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Grifols from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research raised Grifols from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Grifols from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.00.

Grifols Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of GRFS stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $7.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 295,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,578. Grifols has a 1-year low of $6.96 and a 1-year high of $10.65. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $7.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Grifols Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.0945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Grifols's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flat Footed LLC grew its position in shares of Grifols by 26.5% during the first quarter. Flat Footed LLC now owns 1,372,394 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,007,000 after buying an additional 287,867 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Grifols in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,139,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Grifols by 42.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 352,798 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 104,418 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Grifols by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 30,954,223 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $289,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Grifols by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 785,703 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,301,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares in the last quarter.

About Grifols

Grifols, Inc NASDAQ: GRFS is a global healthcare company specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of plasma-derived medicines, diagnostic systems and hospital supplies. With a core focus on immunotherapy and transfusion medicine, the company harnesses human plasma proteins to create therapies that treat a wide range of bleeding disorders, immunodeficiencies and neurological conditions. Grifols also supplies reagents and diagnostic instruments for transfusion centers and clinical laboratories, alongside intravenous solutions and medical devices for hospital use.

The company operates three main business units.

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