Worthington Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 25.4% in March to 891,056 shares (about 1.9% of the stock) with a short-interest ratio of 2.4 days, signaling increased bearish positioning.
• Worthington beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.98 EPS vs $0.95 expected and revenue of $378.7M (up 24.4% year-over-year), while analysts forecast ~2.67 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 (annualized $0.76) for a yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 33.78%, with an ex-dividend date of June 15.

Worthington Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:WOR - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 891,056 shares, an increase of 25.4% from the March 15th total of 710,640 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 371,791 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Worthington Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Enterprises by 872.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 486 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Enterprises by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 525 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Worthington Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Enterprises by 693.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 619 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Enterprises by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 678 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. 51.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Worthington Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WOR traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $53.51. 33,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Worthington Enterprises has a twelve month low of $45.01 and a twelve month high of $70.91. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.33.

Worthington Enterprises (NYSE:WOR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. Worthington Enterprises had a return on equity of 17.74% and a net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $378.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Worthington Enterprises's revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Worthington Enterprises will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Worthington Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WOR. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Worthington Enterprises in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Enterprises from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Worthington Enterprises in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.00.

Worthington Enterprises Company Profile

Worthington Enterprises NYSE: WOR is a diversified metal manufacturing company that produces pressure vessels, engineered assemblies and fabricated metal products. The company's portfolio includes the design and manufacture of cylinders for compressed gases, such as propane, natural gas and hydrogen, as well as transport tanks and other pressure-containment solutions for the industrial gas, energy and transportation markets. In addition to its pressure vessel operations, Worthington Enterprises offers metal processing and distribution services, supplying coil, sheet and plate products to customers across multiple industries.

Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Worthington Enterprises has grown from a single steel processing facility into a multi‐division organization with operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

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