Short Interest in Adient plc (NYSE:ADNT) Expands By 17.8%

Adient plc (NYSE:ADNT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,760,000 shares, an increase of 17.8% from the September 15th total of 4,890,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Adient Stock Up 1.3 %

ADNT stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 732,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,585. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Adient has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $37.19.

Adient (NYSE:ADNT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Adient had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 0.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Adient will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ADNT shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Adient from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Adient from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Adient from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Adient from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Adient from $32.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Adient currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.38.

Institutional Trading of Adient

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Adient by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Adient by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Adient by 3.2% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 18,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Adient by 1.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Adient by 12.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Adient

Adient plc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and market of seating systems and components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light trucks. The company's automotive seating solutions include complete seating systems, frames, mechanisms, foams, head restraints, armrests, and trim covers.