Short Interest in Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Rises By 21.6%

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the February 13th total of 1,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 375,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KFY shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Korn Ferry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Korn Ferry Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KFY traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.49. The company had a trading volume of 387,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,779. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.57. Korn Ferry has a 1 year low of $59.78 and a 1 year high of $80.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.60.

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.06. Korn Ferry had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 9.03%. The business had revenue of $676.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Korn Ferry will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Korn Ferry Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Korn Ferry’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. Korn Ferry’s payout ratio is 41.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Korn Ferry

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Korn Ferry by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Korn Ferry by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Korn Ferry by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of Korn Ferry by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.82% of the company’s stock.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations.