Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 249,916 shares, a drop of 15.4% from the February 26th total of 295,267 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 124,775 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Global Industrial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Global Industrial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 61,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Global Industrial by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of Global Industrial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 79,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Global Industrial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 21,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Global Industrial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 37,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Global Industrial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Global Industrial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Global Industrial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Global Industrial Stock Performance

GIC stock opened at $31.80 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.40. Global Industrial has a 52 week low of $20.79 and a 52 week high of $38.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.03. Global Industrial had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The firm had revenue of $345.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.86 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Global Industrial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Global Industrial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Global Industrial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Global Industrial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.22%.

Global Industrial Company Profile

Global Industrial Company (NYSE: GIC) is a leading business-to-business distributor of industrial products and equipment. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, the company provides a comprehensive range of products to support manufacturing, warehousing, and facility maintenance operations across North America. Through a digital-first platform, Global Industrial combines e-commerce, direct sales and catalog-based ordering channels to serve a diverse commercial customer base.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses material handling solutions (including conveyors, pallet racks and hoists), storage and shelving systems, janitorial and sanitation supplies, packaging and shipping materials, and office furniture.