HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) Short Interest Down 16.5% in August

HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the August 15th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 13.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 129,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCI Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in HCI Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 9,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of HCI Group by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 14,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of HCI Group in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCI Group Stock Performance

Shares of HCI traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $106.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 166,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,228. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.49. HCI Group has a 52-week low of $50.01 and a 52-week high of $121.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.13.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The insurance provider reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $206.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.67 million. HCI Group had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 44.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that HCI Group will post 12.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCI Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. HCI Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCI Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities upped their price objective on HCI Group from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

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.