Short Interest in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Grows By 8.3%

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the January 15th total of 4,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised Honda Motor from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Honda Motor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Honda Motor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HMC. Hedges Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Honda Motor by 91.8% during the fourth quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 28,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the period. XY Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Honda Motor in the 4th quarter worth about $1,294,000. Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in Honda Motor by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,097,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,557,000 after buying an additional 36,221 shares during the period. Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Honda Motor during the fourth quarter valued at about $628,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Honda Motor by 1,906.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 193,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,105,000 after buying an additional 184,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.32% of the company’s stock.

Honda Motor Price Performance

Honda Motor stock traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,122,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,315. Honda Motor has a 12 month low of $23.41 and a 12 month high of $37.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.29. The company has a market capitalization of $43.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.58.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $36.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.31 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 7.53%. Analysts anticipate that Honda Motor will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Honda Motor

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.