CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) Short Interest Update

CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 60,600 shares, an increase of 27.8% from the November 30th total of 47,400 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 37,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRA International

In other CRA International news, CEO Paul A. Maleh sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $1,436,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,712 shares in the company, valued at $29,060,433.60. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRA International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in CRA International by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 161,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,268,000 after buying an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CRA International by 178.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 148,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,986,000 after acquiring an additional 95,050 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of CRA International by 41.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 78,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,699,000 after purchasing an additional 23,078 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of CRA International in the third quarter worth approximately $573,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of CRA International by 102.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.13% of the company’s stock.

CRA International Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CRAI opened at $186.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.93. CRA International has a 52 week low of $97.31 and a 52 week high of $210.70. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.13.

CRA International (NASDAQ:CRAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $167.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.83 million. CRA International had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 24.46%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CRA International will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

CRA International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from CRA International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. CRA International’s payout ratio is 31.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of CRA International from $194.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded CRA International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

CRA International Company Profile

CRA International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services worldwide. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues.