Short Interest in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Rises By 8.3%

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the January 15th total of 4,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Honda Motor Price Performance

HMC stock traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.69. 1,122,187 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,301,315. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.29. The company has a market cap of $43.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.58. Honda Motor has a one year low of $23.41 and a one year high of $37.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $36.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.31 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 7.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Honda Motor will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMC. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Honda Motor by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 38,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Honda Motor during the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. Tiger Pacific Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Honda Motor in the 4th quarter valued at $8,225,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Honda Motor by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 212,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,065,000 after purchasing an additional 28,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP increased its stake in Honda Motor by 2,077.5% in the 4th quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 225,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,424,000 after purchasing an additional 214,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Honda Motor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Honda Motor Company Profile

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.