Short Interest in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Increases By 27.1%

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 315,600 shares, an increase of 27.1% from the February 28th total of 248,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 179,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPNS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Sapiens International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $36.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sapiens International from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sapiens International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sapiens International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Sapiens International by 451.9% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,131,426 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,168,000 after purchasing an additional 926,405 shares during the period. Topline Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Sapiens International in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,147,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Sapiens International by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 932,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,062,000 after acquiring an additional 369,947 shares during the last quarter. Nine Ten Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sapiens International by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Nine Ten Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,291 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,866,000 after acquiring an additional 155,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Sapiens International by 100.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 153,852 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 77,219 shares during the period. 30.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sapiens International Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:SPNS traded up $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $27.78. 22,467 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 152,701. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.24 and a 200-day moving average of $29.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Sapiens International has a 52-week low of $25.01 and a 52-week high of $41.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44 and a beta of 1.16.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $134.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.89 million. Sapiens International had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 13.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Sapiens International will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Sapiens International’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Sapiens International’s payout ratio is 46.51%.

About Sapiens International

Sapiens International Corporation N.V. provides software solutions for the insurance industry in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides various solutions for property and casualty commercial and personal lines, life and pensions, and reinsurance fields.