Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Short Interest Update

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a decrease of 5.1% from the May 31st total of 1,770,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 583,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.51 per share, for a total transaction of $78,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.51 per share, for a total transaction of $78,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brenda J. Lauderback sold 11,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $82,027.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,388.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Denny’s by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Denny’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Denny’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Denny’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Denny’s by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 15,546 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 2,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Denny’s Price Performance

Shares of Denny’s stock opened at $6.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $7.38 and its 200 day moving average is $8.86. The firm has a market cap of $352.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 2.01. Denny’s has a one year low of $6.33 and a one year high of $12.50.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $109.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.17 million. Denny’s had a negative return on equity of 63.27% and a net margin of 5.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Denny’s will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DENN shares. StockNews.com downgraded Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wedbush decreased their price target on Denny’s from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Denny’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Denny’s in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.42.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.