Short Interest in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) Declines By 28.3%

Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 832,200 shares, a drop of 28.3% from the January 31st total of 1,160,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Diageo Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DEO traded up $5.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $114.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,211,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,028. The stock has a market cap of $63.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.66. Diageo has a one year low of $105.72 and a one year high of $151.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 3.8%. Diageo’s payout ratio is 46.42%.

Institutional Trading of Diageo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Diageo by 88,407.3% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 8,113,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,465,000 after purchasing an additional 8,104,301 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Diageo by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,813,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,126,000 after buying an additional 571,873 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Diageo by 234.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,600,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,627,000 after buying an additional 1,822,994 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Diageo by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,540,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,883,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Diageo by 1,181.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,406,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,285 shares during the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DEO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Diageo from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.00.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The company offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavored malt beverages. It also provides Chinese, Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as flavored malt beverages, ready to drink, and non-alcoholic products.