Short Interest in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) Expands By 9.2%

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the December 15th total of 5,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 372,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.3 days. Approximately 21.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc purchased 97,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.64 per share, for a total transaction of $741,080.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,542,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,703,660.96. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 208,000 shares of company stock worth $1,547,210 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 51.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 3.4% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 13.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 8.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 25,633 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 7.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,034 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 599,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after buying an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. 38.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FLWS traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 489,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,676. The company has a market cap of $522.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has a one year low of $7.01 and a one year high of $11.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.86 and its 200-day moving average is $8.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM (NASDAQ:FLWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty retailer reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.02. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM had a negative net margin of 0.50% and a positive return on equity of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $193.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.48) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that 1-800-FLOWERS.COM will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FLWS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Company Profile

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc provides gifts for various occasions in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Consumer Floral & Gifts, Gourmet Foods & Gift Baskets, and BloomNet. The company offers a range of products, including fresh-cut flowers, floral and fruit arrangements, plants, gifts, personalized products, dipped berries, popcorns, gourmet foods and gift baskets, cookies, chocolates, candies, wines, and gift-quality fruits.