Short Interest in GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GENK) Rises By 141.6%

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GENK) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 298,600 shares, an increase of 141.6% from the December 15th total of 123,600 shares. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 54,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

GEN Restaurant Group Price Performance

Shares of GENK traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $7.40. The company had a trading volume of 27,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,774. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. GEN Restaurant Group has a 12-month low of $5.61 and a 12-month high of $14.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.34. The company has a market capitalization of $242.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53 and a beta of 1.95.

GEN Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:GENK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $49.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.90 million. GEN Restaurant Group had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 1.83%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that GEN Restaurant Group will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of GEN Restaurant Group in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Wook Jin Kim purchased 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $101,125.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 147,593 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,027.37. The trade was a 9.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders bought 21,731 shares of company stock worth $171,740. 61.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GEN Restaurant Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GENK. Apis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in GEN Restaurant Group in the second quarter valued at $91,000. Connors Investor Services Inc. acquired a new position in GEN Restaurant Group during the second quarter worth about $124,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in GEN Restaurant Group during the second quarter worth about $154,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GEN Restaurant Group by 86.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 35,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 16,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of GEN Restaurant Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. 10.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GEN Restaurant Group

GEN Restaurant Group, Inc operates restaurants in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, New York, and Florida. It offers meats, poultry, and seafood. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Cerritos, California.