Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) Short Interest Up 18.1% in February

Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 832,500 shares, a growth of 18.1% from the February 13th total of 705,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 136,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Ennis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ennis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Ennis by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,617,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,888,000 after buying an additional 50,792 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Ennis by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,485,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,323,000 after buying an additional 5,601 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ennis by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 723,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,260,000 after buying an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Ennis by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 629,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,269,000 after buying an additional 31,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ennis by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 617,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,017,000 after buying an additional 133,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.33% of the company’s stock.

Ennis Stock Performance

EBF traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 63,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,044. Ennis has a 52-week low of $18.88 and a 52-week high of $25.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.55. The company has a market capitalization of $551.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.40.

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. Ennis had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 10.35%.

Ennis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Ennis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

About Ennis

Ennis, Inc manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands.