Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Short Interest Up 117.4% in May

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 833,600 shares, a growth of 117.4% from the April 30th total of 383,400 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 160,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Sapiens International Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ SPNS opened at $28.72 on Friday. Sapiens International has a 52-week low of $23.69 and a 52-week high of $41.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.24 and a 200-day moving average of $27.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. Sapiens International had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $136.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sapiens International will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Sapiens International’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. Sapiens International’s payout ratio is presently 46.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SPNS shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Sapiens International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $36.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sapiens International from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sapiens International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.25.

Institutional Trading of Sapiens International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPNS. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 415.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 44,033 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 171.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 234,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 28,512 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sapiens International during the 4th quarter worth about $262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

About Sapiens International

Sapiens International Corporation N.V. provides software solutions for the insurance industry in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides various solutions for property and casualty commercial and personal lines, life and pensions, and reinsurance fields.