Short Interest in Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) Increases By 27.8%

Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 112,500 shares, a growth of 27.8% from the March 31st total of 88,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 60,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Philip Koosed sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total transaction of $140,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,299.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Superior Group of Companies news, Director Paul V. Mellini sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.66, for a total value of $93,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 92,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,675.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Philip Koosed sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total transaction of $140,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,289,299.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Superior Group of Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Superior Group of Companies by 1,040.2% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 22,803 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 20,803 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its stake in Superior Group of Companies by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 390,775 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,275,000 after buying an additional 103,920 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Superior Group of Companies by 67.6% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 18,364 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 7,408 shares during the period. Barclays PLC bought a new position in shares of Superior Group of Companies during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Superior Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SGC. Barrington Research boosted their price target on Superior Group of Companies from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Singular Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Superior Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Superior Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Superior Group of Companies Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of Superior Group of Companies stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.27. The company had a trading volume of 33,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,965. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.78. Superior Group of Companies has a fifty-two week low of $7.23 and a fifty-two week high of $17.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.76 and its 200-day moving average is $13.39. The company has a market cap of $271.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.40.

Superior Group of Companies (NASDAQ:SGC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The textile maker reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. Superior Group of Companies had a return on equity of 4.51% and a net margin of 1.61%. The firm had revenue of $147.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.59 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Superior Group of Companies will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Superior Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Superior Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.82%.

About Superior Group of Companies

Superior Group of Companies, Inc manufactures and sells apparel and accessories in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Branded Products, Healthcare Apparel, and Contact Centers. The Branded Products segment produces and sells customized merchandising solutions, promotional products, and branded uniform to chain retailer, food service, entertainment, technology, transportation, and other industries under BAMKO and HPI brands.