Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW) Short Interest Up 18.5% in May

Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,120,000 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the April 30th total of 4,320,000 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 838,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark downgraded Stagwell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Stagwell from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Stagwell in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Stagwell in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $8.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stagwell news, CEO Mark Jeffery Penn acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.87 per share, for a total transaction of $48,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 9,014,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,898,447.85. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky acquired 24,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.30 per share, for a total transaction of $104,705.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 185,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $796,858.80. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 36,436 shares of company stock worth $163,314. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stagwell

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Stagwell in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Stagwell during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Stagwell during the 1st quarter worth about $64,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Stagwell in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stagwell during the first quarter worth about $74,000. 35.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stagwell Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of NASDAQ STGW traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,083,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,418. The business's 50-day moving average price is $5.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.15. Stagwell has a fifty-two week low of $4.03 and a fifty-two week high of $8.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -449.50 and a beta of 1.44.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.05). Stagwell had a net margin of 0.01% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The firm had revenue of $651.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Stagwell will post 0.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Stagwell

Stagwell Inc provides digital transformation, performance media and data, consumer insights and strategy, and creativity and communications services. The company operates through three segments: Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network. It designs and builds digital platforms and experiences that support the delivery of content, commerce, service, and sales; creates websites, mobile applications, back-end systems, content and data management systems, and other digital environments; designs and implements technology and data strategies; and develops software and related technology products, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled communications, research, and media technology, cookie-less data platforms for advance targeting and activation, software tools for e-commerce applications, specialty media solutions in the augmented reality space, and text messaging applications for consumer engagement.