Short Interest in PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) Grows By 33.7%

PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 209,900 shares, a growth of 33.7% from the February 28th total of 157,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 69,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PLDT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PLDT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of PLDT during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in PLDT during the third quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in PLDT during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in PLDT by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,629 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PLDT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $266,000. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PLDT Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of PHI stock traded up $0.63 on Tuesday, hitting $22.50. 273,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 48,324. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.68. PLDT has a fifty-two week low of $21.00 and a fifty-two week high of $29.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.24 and a 200 day moving average of $23.66.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $960.62 million for the quarter. PLDT had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 12.34%. Equities analysts anticipate that PLDT will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

PLDT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.812 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. PLDT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.66%.

PLDT Company Profile

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.