A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) Short Interest Down 20.9% in December

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the December 15th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 278,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMRK. Bard Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Associates Inc. now owns 93,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,125,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 94.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in A-Mark Precious Metals in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in A-Mark Precious Metals by 5.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in A-Mark Precious Metals by 3.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. 75.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A-Mark Precious Metals Trading Up 0.5 %

AMRK opened at $27.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. A-Mark Precious Metals has a twelve month low of $24.22 and a twelve month high of $47.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.35.

A-Mark Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. A-Mark Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 34.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson cut their price target on A-Mark Precious Metals from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

About A-Mark Precious Metals

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals trading company. It operates through three segments: Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services, Direct-to-Consumer, and Secured Lending. The Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services segment sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powders, wafers, grains, ingots, and coins.