Short Interest in International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT) Rises By 31.5%

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, a growth of 31.5% from the March 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on IGT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of International Game Technology from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on International Game Technology from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded International Game Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.75.

International Game Technology Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE IGT traded down $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $16.24. The stock had a trading volume of 76,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,361. International Game Technology has a 52-week low of $13.81 and a 52-week high of $24.13. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.66.

International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.10). International Game Technology had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $651.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $657.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Game Technology will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

International Game Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. International Game Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Game Technology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IGT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of International Game Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,616,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in International Game Technology by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,578,432 shares of the company's stock worth $151,495,000 after buying an additional 787,543 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Game Technology by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 10,193 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of International Game Technology by 283.6% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 71,033 shares of the company's stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 52,516 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in International Game Technology by 49.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 291,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,212,000 after purchasing an additional 96,019 shares during the period. 44.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Game Technology Company Profile

International Game Technology PLC operates and provides gaming technology products and services in the United States, Canada, Italy, The United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Global Lottery, Global Gaming, and PlayDigital. The company designs, sells, operates, and leases a suite of point-of-sale machines that reconciles lottery funds between the retailer and lottery authority; provides online lottery transaction processing systems; produces instant ticket games; and offers printing services, such as instant ticket marketing plans and graphic design, programming, packaging, shipping, and delivery services, as well as iLottery solutions and services.