HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the August 15th total of 1,330,000 shares. Approximately 13.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 129,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of HCI Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in HCI Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in HCI Group during the second quarter valued at $31,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCI Group during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

HCI Group Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCI opened at $100.29 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.41. HCI Group has a 12 month low of $50.01 and a 12 month high of $121.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 1.13.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The insurance provider reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.63. HCI Group had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $206.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that HCI Group will post 12.37 earnings per share for the current year.

HCI Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. HCI Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of HCI Group from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut HCI Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

HCI Group Company Profile

HCI Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs.