Short Interest in Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) Grows By 8.1%

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,440,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 16,140,000 shares. Currently, 14.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 13.7 days.

Gannett Stock Performance

Shares of GCI stock traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $4.82. The stock had a trading volume of 520,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,004,377. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.79. Gannett has a 1 year low of $1.66 and a 1 year high of $4.88. The stock has a market cap of $710.45 million, a P/E ratio of -5.53 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.83.

Gannett (NYSE:GCI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $635.76 million during the quarter. Gannett had a negative return on equity of 27.67% and a negative net margin of 4.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GCI shares. Citigroup raised Gannett from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $1.95 to $3.60 in a report on Friday, May 24th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Gannett in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Gannett

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Gannett by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,096,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 557,079 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Gannett by 285.4% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 62,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 46,396 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gannett by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,462,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,734,000 after purchasing an additional 100,837 shares during the period. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. increased its stake in shares of Gannett by 14.4% in the third quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 8,594,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Gannett by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 87,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares during the period. 76.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Gannett

Gannett Co, Inc operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Domestic Gannett Media, Newsquest, and Digital Marketing Solutions. The company's print offerings includes home delivery on a subscription basis; single copy; non-daily publications, such as shoppers and niche publications.