Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) Short Interest Update

Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,230,000 shares, an increase of 35.2% from the February 13th total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 483,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on EMBC. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Embecta from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Embecta from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Embecta Stock Down 3.7 %

Embecta stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.12. The company had a trading volume of 42,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,678. The stock has a market cap of $762.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.47 and a 200 day moving average of $16.46. Embecta has a 1 year low of $9.93 and a 1 year high of $21.48.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.20. Embecta had a net margin of 5.25% and a negative return on equity of 19.22%. Equities analysts anticipate that Embecta will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Embecta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Embecta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Insider Activity at Embecta

In other Embecta news, Director Milton Mayo Morris sold 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.38, for a total value of $50,778.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,133 shares in the company, valued at $591,858.54. This represents a 7.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Embecta

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Embecta by 175.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Embecta during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Embecta by 796.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Embecta in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in Embecta in the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. 93.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Embecta Company Profile

Embecta Corp., a medical device company, focuses on the provision of various solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Its products include pen needles, syringes, and safety injection devices, as well as digital applications to assist people with managing patient's diabetes.