Farmer Brothers Company (NASDAQ:FARM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Farmer Brothers Company (NASDAQ:FARM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 44,530 shares, a decline of 17.8% from the January 15th total of 54,204 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 62,423 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 62,423 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Farmer Brothers Stock Performance

FARM traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 88,627. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.75 million, a PE ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 1.27. Farmer Brothers has a fifty-two week low of $1.34 and a fifty-two week high of $3.29.

Farmer Brothers (NASDAQ:FARM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.08). Farmer Brothers had a negative return on equity of 29.51% and a negative net margin of 5.51%.The business had revenue of $88.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Farmer Brothers will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Farmer Brothers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FARM. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Farmer Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its position in Farmer Brothers by 43.5% in the third quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 218,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 66,200 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Farmer Brothers by 253.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 68,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 49,374 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Farmer Brothers by 210.2% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 28,661 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Farmer Brothers by 152.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 24,820 shares in the last quarter. 64.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FARM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Farmer Brothers from $3.50 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Zacks Research raised Farmer Brothers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Farmer Brothers in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

Farmer Brothers Company Profile

Farmer Brothers Company (NASDAQ: FARM) is a specialty coffee roaster and distributor that serves the foodservice, hospitality and office coffee markets across the United States. The company produces and delivers coffee, tea, single-serve products and beverage equipment, supporting its customers with supply chain solutions, equipment maintenance and barista training services. Its operations are organized to serve commercial accounts ranging from national restaurant chains and convenience stores to independent coffee shops and corporate offices.

Founded in 1912 in Texas, Farmer Brothers has grown from a regional roaster into a national supplier with a network of manufacturing and distribution facilities.