Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) Short Interest Up 13.7% in October

Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the September 30th total of 1,610,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 380,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Embecta Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EMBC traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $14.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 81,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 406,538. Embecta has a 12 month low of $9.93 and a 12 month high of $19.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.50. The stock has a market cap of $814.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.98.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $272.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.44 million. Embecta had a negative return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 6.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Embecta will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Embecta Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Embecta’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Embecta from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th.

Institutional Trading of Embecta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EMBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Embecta by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,026,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,004,000 after buying an additional 20,509 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Embecta by 205.6% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 110,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74,480 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Embecta by 15.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 362,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,805,000 after purchasing an additional 49,551 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Embecta by 12.1% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Embecta by 3.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 59,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. 93.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Embecta

Embecta Corp., a medical device company, focuses on the provision of various solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Its products include pen needles, syringes, and safety injection devices, as well as digital applications to assist people with managing patient's diabetes.