Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 9,070,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the February 13th total of 8,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days. Approximately 32.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Big Lots Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE BIG opened at $12.15 on Friday. Big Lots has a 12-month low of $11.81 and a 12-month high of $40.45. The stock has a market cap of $351.86 million, a PE ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.07 and a 200 day moving average of $17.25.

Big Lots (NYSE:BIG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.41. Big Lots had a negative net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. Big Lots’s revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Big Lots will post -4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Big Lots Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.88%. Big Lots’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.46%.

Institutional Trading of Big Lots

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIG. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Big Lots by 69.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Big Lots by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Big Lots during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Big Lots by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Big Lots by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Big Lots from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on shares of Big Lots from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Big Lots from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on shares of Big Lots from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Big Lots in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Big Lots currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $16.11.

Big Lots Company Profile

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Big Lots, Inc engages in the operation of retail stores. It operates through the Discount Retailing segment which includes merchandising categories such as furniture, seasonal, soft home, food, consumables, hard home, and electronics, toys, and accessories. The company was founded by Sol A. Shenk in 1967 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH.