Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $37.82, but opened at $29.97. Interface shares last traded at $32.62, with a volume of 102,977 shares.

Key Interface News

Here are the key news stories impacting Interface this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $0.68 per share, above the $0.61 consensus and up 11.5% year over year. Interface also reaffirmed its outlook. Interface Q3 Earnings Top Estimates Interface posts Q3 sales, reaffirms outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue of $366.7 million missed the $377.6 million consensus, despite increasing just 0.6% year over year. GAAP earnings per share fell 14.1% to $0.67, a contrast with the growth in adjusted earnings. Interface quarterly results

Analyst Ratings Changes

TILE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Interface from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on shares of Interface from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Interface from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interface has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

Interface Trading Down 16.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.30.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The textile maker reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.07. Interface had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 21.77%. The firm had revenue of $366.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Interface, Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Interface Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Interface’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laurel Hurd sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.42, for a total transaction of $254,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 492,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,954,258.76. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel T. Hendrix sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.39, for a total value of $141,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 80,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,836,402.33. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,621 shares of company stock valued at $2,378,904. Company insiders own 2.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in Interface by 53.3% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 13,045 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 4,537 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Interface by 9.0% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 32,633 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Interface by 298.9% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 50,649 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 37,951 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Interface by 29.0% in the third quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,828 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 3,780 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Interface by 7.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,923 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Interface Company Profile

Interface, Inc designs and manufactures modular flooring products for commercial, institutional and residential interiors. Its portfolio includes carpet tile, broadloom carpet and resilient flooring, including luxury vinyl tile. The company serves markets such as corporate offices, hospitality, education, healthcare and retail.

Founded in 1973 by Ray Anderson, Interface is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and sells its products through a global network serving customers in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.