Short Interest in Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW) Rises By 18.5%

Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 838,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Stagwell Trading Up 4.7%

STGW stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,853,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,980. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -449.00 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Stagwell has a 1-year low of $4.03 and a 1-year high of $8.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.12.

Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $651.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. Stagwell's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stagwell will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stagwell

In related news, CEO Mark Jeffery Penn bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.87 per share, for a total transaction of $48,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,014,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,898,447.85. This represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eli Samaha purchased 425,757 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,817,982.39. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,774,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,196,354.94. This trade represents a 5.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 702,193 shares of company stock worth $3,044,496 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stagwell

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STGW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Stagwell by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,548,288 shares of the company's stock worth $33,567,000 after acquiring an additional 149,020 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Stagwell by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,333,593 shares of the company's stock worth $15,369,000 after acquiring an additional 101,318 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Stagwell by 24.8% during the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 2,084,525 shares of the company's stock worth $12,646,000 after acquiring an additional 413,597 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Stagwell by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,730,153 shares of the company's stock worth $11,385,000 after acquiring an additional 51,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Stagwell by 4.6% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,686,009 shares of the company's stock worth $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 73,676 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STGW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Stagwell in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Benchmark lowered shares of Stagwell from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Stagwell in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.60.

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.