United-Guardian, Inc. (NASDAQ:UG) Short Interest Up 85.0% in August

United-Guardian, Inc. (NASDAQ:UG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 11,544 shares, an increase of 85.0% from the July 30th total of 6,241 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,926 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

United-Guardian Price Performance

Shares of UG stock opened at $7.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.23 million, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.94. United-Guardian has a 12 month low of $5.58 and a 12 month high of $8.77.

United-Guardian (NASDAQ:UG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $3.11 million for the quarter. United-Guardian had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 22.24%.

United-Guardian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 819.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 28th. United-Guardian’s dividend payout ratio is 111.11%.

Institutional Trading of United-Guardian

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in United-Guardian by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 186,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of United-Guardian by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 164,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United-Guardian by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United-Guardian in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of United-Guardian in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $143,000. 23.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of United-Guardian from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

About United-Guardian

United-Guardian, Inc, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, develops and supplies specialty ingredients and finished products for the personal care, cosmetic and esthetic markets. Its Specialty Ingredients segment offers antimicrobial preservatives, conditioning polymers, emulsifiers, UV filters and other functional actives that are incorporated into lotions, creams, shampoos and professional esthetic formulations.

The company’s Finished Products segment markets a range of skin and hair care items under the Guardian brand, providing private-label and contract manufacturing services to spas, salons and dermatology clinics.