Short Interest in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Grows By 19.2%

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,540,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the February 13th total of 2,130,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 573,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Photronics Stock Performance

Photronics stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.47. 553,766 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 450,585. Photronics has a 12-month low of $19.61 and a 12-month high of $31.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.61.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Photronics will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other Photronics news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total value of $1,565,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 219,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. This represents a 22.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,642. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 209,000 shares of company stock worth $5,087,810. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter worth $298,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,419,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Photronics during the fourth quarter worth about $656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.