Short Interest in Richardson Electronics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RELL) Rises By 66.2%

Richardson Electronics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RELL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 568,720 shares, a growth of 66.2% from the January 15th total of 342,119 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 153,582 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 153,582 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Richardson Electronics

In other news, CFO Robert J. Ben sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.90, for a total value of $59,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,704.60. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jens Frank Ruppert sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.09, for a total transaction of $205,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,555. The trade was a 30.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 33.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Richardson Electronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RELL. Aristides Capital LLC lifted its position in Richardson Electronics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 20,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC lifted its holdings in Richardson Electronics by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 16,970 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Richardson Electronics by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,142 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Richardson Electronics by 15.3% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Richardson Electronics by 298.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117 shares during the period. 71.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on RELL shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Richardson Electronics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Richardson Electronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $11.00 price target on Richardson Electronics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $11.00.

Richardson Electronics Price Performance

RELL opened at $13.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.35 million, a P/E ratio of 276.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.58. Richardson Electronics has a one year low of $7.57 and a one year high of $15.34.

Richardson Electronics (NASDAQ:RELL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The technology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $52.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.90 million. Richardson Electronics had a return on equity of 3.30% and a net margin of 0.38%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Richardson Electronics will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Richardson Electronics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. Richardson Electronics’s dividend payout ratio is 480.00%.

About Richardson Electronics

Richardson Electronics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RELL) is a global manufacturer, distributor and servicer of engineered components and subsystems for a diverse range of industrial, medical and scientific applications. The company specializes in vacuum electron devices, high-voltage power supplies and related electronic components, offering klystrons, traveling wave tubes, magnetrons, X-ray tubes, microwave amplifiers and power conversion products. Its solutions support customers in power grid management, semiconductor processing, medical imaging, scientific instrumentation and telecommunications.

In addition to its manufacturing capabilities, Richardson Electronics maintains a broad distribution network comprising thousands of standard and custom parts.