Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,570,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the July 31st total of 14,590,000 shares. Approximately 11.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.6 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GCI shares. TheStreet cut Gannett from a “c-” rating to a “d” rating in a research note on Friday, August 12th. StockNews.com lowered Gannett from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Gannett from $2.65 to $1.70 in a report on Thursday, August 25th.
Insider Buying and Selling at Gannett
In other Gannett news, CEO Michael Reed purchased 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.44 per share, with a total value of $1,220,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,836,335 shares in the company, valued at $4,480,657.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Gannett
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GCI. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gannett by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 35,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 13,491 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Gannett by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 450,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 150,031 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Gannett by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 56,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Gannett by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,910,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,171,000 after purchasing an additional 339,100 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Gannett by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 258,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 93,731 shares during the period. 66.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Gannett Stock Down 1.7 %
GCI traded down $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $2.28. 28,977 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,469,093. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.71. The company has a market cap of $334.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.65 and a beta of 2.31. Gannett has a twelve month low of $2.15 and a twelve month high of $7.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.
Gannett (NYSE:GCI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $748.66 million for the quarter. Gannett had a positive return on equity of 9.15% and a negative net margin of 2.06%.
About Gannett
Gannett Co, Inc operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Publishing and Digital Marketing Solutions. The company’s principal products include 230 daily print media with total paid circulation of approximately 1.9 million and Sunday circulation of 2.2 million; 249 weekly print media with total circulation of approximately 1.4 million; and 292 locally-focused websites.