Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 56,100 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the August 31st total of 52,800 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 56,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmer Bros.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Farmer Bros. by 1.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 559,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Farmer Bros. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 367,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,327 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its position in Farmer Bros. by 42.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 100,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 30,122 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Farmer Bros. by 8.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 824,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 65,277 shares in the last quarter. 64.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Farmer Bros. Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ:FARM opened at $1.91 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.85. The stock has a market cap of $40.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Farmer Bros. has a 12 month low of $1.86 and a 12 month high of $4.04.

Farmer Bros. (NASDAQ:FARM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.22). Farmer Bros. had a negative net margin of 1.14% and a negative return on equity of 27.35%. The business had revenue of $84.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.30 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.84) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Farmer Bros. will post -0.69 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Farmer Bros. in a research note on Monday, June 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Farmer Bros. from $6.00 to $4.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Farmer Bros. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Farmer Bros. Company Profile

Farmer Bros. Co engages in the roasting, wholesale, equipment servicing, and distribution of coffee, tea, and other allied products in the United States. The company offers roast and ground coffee; frozen liquid coffee; flavoured and unflavoured iced and hot teas; culinary products, including spices, pancake and biscuit mixes, gravy and sauce mixes, soup bases, dressings, and syrups and sauces, as well as coffee filters, cups, sugar, and creamers; and other beverages comprising cappuccino, cocoa, granitas, and other blender-based beverages and concentrated and ready-to-drink cold brew and iced coffee.