Short Interest in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) Rises By 43.1%

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, a growth of 43.1% from the January 31st total of 4,250,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAH has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Booz Allen Hamilton from $210.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised Booz Allen Hamilton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $185.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $180.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booz Allen Hamilton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 387.5% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Booz Allen Hamilton in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booz Allen Hamilton by 144.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Booz Allen Hamilton in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 91.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAH opened at $105.59 on Wednesday. Booz Allen Hamilton has a 12 month low of $101.82 and a 12 month high of $190.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.21.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a net margin of 7.39% and a return on equity of 68.97%. On average, equities analysts expect that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Booz Allen Hamilton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.79%.

Booz Allen Hamilton Company Profile

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.