Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Short Interest Up 65.5% in February

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a growth of 65.5% from the January 31st total of 1,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 494,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Interface from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Interface in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Interface news, Director Daniel T. Hendrix sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.10, for a total value of $301,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 116,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,799,142.70. This represents a 9.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David B. Foshee sold 15,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.27, for a total value of $398,647.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 202,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,316,995.46. This represents a 6.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,175 shares of company stock worth $1,471,087. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TILE. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Interface by 204.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in Interface during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Interface by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,242 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Interface by 103.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,460 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interface during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Interface Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of TILE traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.23. The company had a trading volume of 771,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,614. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Interface has a one year low of $14.13 and a one year high of $27.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.96.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The textile maker reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Interface had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 6.49%. The firm had revenue of $335.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Interface will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interface Company Profile

Interface, Inc designs, produces, and sells modular carpet products primarily worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Americas (AMS), and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (EAAA). The company offers modular carpets under the Interface and FLOR brand names; luxury vinyl tiles; carpet tiles under the CQuestGB name for use in commercial interiors, include offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities, as well as residential interiors; and modular resilient flooring products.