Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) Short Interest Up 7.8% in January

Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the December 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 478,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Patrick Friel sold 2,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total value of $40,773.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,201.41. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Reece A. Kurtenbach sold 8,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total value of $150,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 469,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,807,381.25. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Daktronics by 75.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Daktronics by 92.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,309 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Daktronics in the third quarter valued at $75,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in shares of Daktronics in the third quarter valued at $164,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Daktronics in the fourth quarter valued at $170,000. 61.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Daktronics Trading Down 2.1 %

DAKT opened at $16.06 on Tuesday. Daktronics has a one year low of $7.20 and a one year high of $19.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $756.27 million, a PE ratio of 64.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.09). Daktronics had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 19.61%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Daktronics will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Daktronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Daktronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments.