VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in VOC Energy Trust surged by 120.6% to 56,358 shares as of March 13, leaving a short-interest ratio of just 0.2 days and roughly 0.3% of shares sold short.
• VOC recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.09 (annualized $0.36), implying a 10.0% yield with a dividend payout ratio of 81.82%, signaling a high yield but limited payout headroom.
• The trust reported quarterly EPS of $0.11 on $2.08 million in revenue with a reported net margin of 85.78%; the stock trades near $3.61 with a market cap of about $61.3M and a P/E of 8.19.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 56,358 shares, a growth of 120.6% from the February 26th total of 25,545 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 277,937 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VOC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of VOC Energy Trust to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of VOC Energy Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Sell".

VOC Energy Trust Stock Performance

VOC stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.61. The stock had a trading volume of 106,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,683. The stock has a market cap of $61.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.30. The company's 50 day moving average price is $3.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.00. VOC Energy Trust has a 1-year low of $2.44 and a 1-year high of $3.84.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.08 million for the quarter. VOC Energy Trust had a net margin of 85.78% and a return on equity of 66.55%.

VOC Energy Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. VOC Energy Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in VOC Energy Trust stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of VOC Energy Trust as of its most recent SEC filing.

About VOC Energy Trust

VOC Energy Trust is a Canada-based unincorporated, open-ended royalty trust focused on upstream oil and gas interests. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the trust holds non-operated royalty and net profit interests in conventional petroleum and natural gas properties. VOC's structure allows it to collect a percentage of production revenues without directly managing exploration or drilling activities.

The trust's asset portfolio is concentrated in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, with producing properties across Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

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