HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) Short Interest Update

HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 964,700 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the March 15th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 134,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.2 days. Approximately 13.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

HCI Group Stock Up 1.6 %

HCI stock traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. HCI Group has a twelve month low of $48.08 and a twelve month high of $121.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.14.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The insurance provider reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $1.81. HCI Group had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 36.40%. The firm had revenue of $162.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCI Group will post 10.33 EPS for the current year.

HCI Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. HCI Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James Mark Harmsworth sold 20,000 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.12, for a total transaction of $2,342,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,990.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Sanjay Madhu sold 3,294 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.72, for a total transaction of $391,063.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,512,936.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO James Mark Harmsworth sold 20,000 shares of HCI Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.12, for a total transaction of $2,342,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,990.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,102 shares of company stock worth $13,198,303 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 25.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in HCI Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,558,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in HCI Group by 859.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 111,620 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,983,000 after buying an additional 99,992 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in HCI Group by 160.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 139,280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,438,000 after buying an additional 85,759 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in HCI Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,815,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in HCI Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,633,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HCI. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCI Group from $96.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of HCI Group from $90.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of HCI Group in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of HCI Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of HCI Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

HCI Group Company Profile

HCI Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs.