Paragon 28, Inc. (NYSE:FNA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Paragon 28, Inc. (NYSE:FNA) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, a drop of 20.0% from the February 13th total of 1,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Paragon 28 Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FNA traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,247,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,970. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Paragon 28 has a one year low of $4.65 and a one year high of $13.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 1.54.

Paragon 28 (NYSE:FNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $71.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.81 million. Paragon 28 had a negative net margin of 25.31% and a negative return on equity of 37.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paragon 28 will post -0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paragon 28

In related news, major shareholder Mvm Partners, Llc sold 27,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total transaction of $315,390.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,313,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,846,832.42. This trade represents a 0.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,875,984 shares of company stock worth $24,359,971 in the last quarter. 15.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paragon 28 by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 10,580,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,296,000 after purchasing an additional 425,824 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paragon 28 by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,809,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,018,000 after purchasing an additional 425,983 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Paragon 28 by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,563,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,443,000 after buying an additional 39,075 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paragon 28 by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 978,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,113,000 after buying an additional 11,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paragon 28 by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 808,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,353,000 after buying an additional 23,733 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FNA. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $14.00) on shares of Paragon 28 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of Paragon 28 in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Paragon 28 in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Paragon 28 from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.20.

Paragon 28 Company Profile

Paragon 28, Inc develops, distributes, and sells foot and ankle surgical systems in the United States and internationally. It offers plating systems, including gorilla plating systems, such as lisfranc, lapidus, lateral column, calcaneus slide, and naviculocuneiform (NC) fusion plating systems; baby gorilla plate-specific screws, navicular fracture plates, and 5th metatarsal hook plates; and silverback plating systems.