Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Short Interest Up 41.5% in March

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,951,969 shares, an increase of 41.5% from the March 15th total of 2,793,133 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 898,041 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 7.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Interface

In other news, VP James Poppens sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $294,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 119,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,515,572.32. This trade represents a 7.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,650 shares of company stock valued at $736,292. Company insiders own 2.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Interface

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TILE. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Interface by 180.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 981 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interface in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Interface in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Interface by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interface in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TILE. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Interface from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of Interface from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.00.

Interface Price Performance

TILE opened at $27.17 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.96. Interface has a twelve month low of $17.72 and a twelve month high of $35.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The textile maker reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $349.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.54 million. Interface had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Interface will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interface Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 27th. This is an increase from Interface’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Interface’s payout ratio is presently 6.12%.

About Interface

Interface, Inc (NASDAQ: TILE) is a global manufacturer of modular flooring and resilient commercial flooring solutions. The company specializes in carpet tiles, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and other environmentally responsible hard-surface products designed for use in corporate, education, healthcare, hospitality and retail environments. Interface’s portfolio also includes broadloom carpet, rubber flooring and acoustic underlays, all engineered to meet performance, design and sustainability requirements in modern interior spaces.

Founded in 1973 by Ray C.