The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• As of April 15, short interest jumped 14.3% to 12,465,108 shares—about 13.9% of the stock—with a days-to-cover ratio of 12.1 days, indicating significant bearish positioning.
• Analyst sentiment has turned negative: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with a $1.79 consensus price target after multiple downgrades (e.g., Barclays cut to underweight and a $0.50 target).
• The shares trade near $0.65 with a market cap of roughly $59M, reporting negative EPS and a -36.12% net margin, and analysts forecast -$0.16 EPS for the year, underscoring weak fundamentals.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,465,108 shares, a growth of 14.3% from the March 31st total of 10,903,463 shares. Currently, 13.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,033,021 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HAIN. Barclays lowered The Hain Celestial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $1.50 to $0.50 in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research raised The Hain Celestial Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. William Blair lowered The Hain Celestial Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens decreased their price target on The Hain Celestial Group from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered The Hain Celestial Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $1.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Hain Celestial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Hain Celestial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in The Hain Celestial Group by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in The Hain Celestial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hain Celestial Group by 98.0% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 30,098 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14,895 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Hain Celestial Group during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company's stock.

The Hain Celestial Group Stock Performance

HAIN stock opened at $0.65 on Friday. The Hain Celestial Group has a 1 year low of $0.55 and a 1 year high of $3.07. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $0.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.03. The firm has a market cap of $59.43 million, a P/E ratio of -0.11 and a beta of 0.65.

The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ:HAIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03). The Hain Celestial Group had a negative return on equity of 1.15% and a negative net margin of 36.12%.The firm had revenue of $384.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $383.23 million. On average, research analysts predict that The Hain Celestial Group will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About The Hain Celestial Group

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc NASDAQ: HAIN is a leading global producer and marketer of natural and organic branded products. The company operates through two principal segments—Grocery and Personal Care—offering a diversified portfolio that spans shelf-stable foods, snacks, beverages, condiments and natural personal care items. Its product lineup addresses growing consumer demand for clean-label, plant-based and ethically sourced offerings in everyday categories.

Within its Grocery segment, Hain Celestial markets well-known brands such as Celestial Seasonings teas, Earth's Best organic baby foods, Rudi's organic bakery items, Terra vegetable chips and Sensible Portions snacks.

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