Short Interest in Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNNA) Increases By 103.6%

Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNNA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 8,431 shares, an increase of 103.6% from the April 15th total of 4,141 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,164 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Hennessy Advisors in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kathryn Fahy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 60,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $606,890. This trade represents a 14.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 36.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hennessy Advisors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HNNA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hennessy Advisors by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,894 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hennessy Advisors by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hennessy Advisors during the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Hennessy Advisors by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 73,647 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 30,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truffle Hound Capital LLC grew its stake in Hennessy Advisors by 241.8% during the 3rd quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC now owns 150,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 106,726 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.31% of the company’s stock.

Hennessy Advisors Stock Performance

Shares of HNNA traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.92. 3,607 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,849. Hennessy Advisors has a 1-year low of $8.90 and a 1-year high of $13.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.84 and a 200-day moving average of $9.90. The stock has a market cap of $78.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Hennessy Advisors (NASDAQ:HNNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Hennessy Advisors had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 25.40%.The company had revenue of $8.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 million.

Hennessy Advisors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Hennessy Advisors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

About Hennessy Advisors

Hennessy Advisors, Inc is an investment advisory firm specializing in the management of closed-end and open-end funds, as well as separate account strategies. Serving as the investment adviser to a family of publicly traded closed-end funds and a series of mutual funds, the company focuses on generating income and total return for its shareholders by deploying a range of equity and fixed-income strategies. Hennessy Advisors is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and operates under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The firm’s product lineup includes multiple closed-end funds that invest in U.S.