Short Interest in Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) Expands By 27.8%

Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 112,500 shares, an increase of 27.8% from the March 31st total of 88,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 60,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Superior Group of Companies news, insider Philip Koosed sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total transaction of $140,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,299.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Paul V. Mellini sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.66, for a total value of $93,960.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 92,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,675.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Philip Koosed sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.64, for a total transaction of $140,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,289,299.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SGC. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in Superior Group of Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Superior Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Superior Group of Companies by 78.1% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Superior Group of Companies by 67.6% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 18,364 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 7,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in Superior Group of Companies by 1,040.2% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 22,803 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 20,803 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Singular Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Superior Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Superior Group of Companies from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Superior Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Superior Group of Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

SGC stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.87. 32,343 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 48,302. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.90 million, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.25. Superior Group of Companies has a 12-month low of $7.23 and a 12-month high of $17.70.

Superior Group of Companies (NASDAQ:SGC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The textile maker reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $147.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.59 million. Superior Group of Companies had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 4.51%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Superior Group of Companies will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Superior Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Superior Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

About Superior Group of Companies

Superior Group of Companies, Inc manufactures and sells apparel and accessories in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Branded Products, Healthcare Apparel, and Contact Centers. The Branded Products segment produces and sells customized merchandising solutions, promotional products, and branded uniform to chain retailer, food service, entertainment, technology, transportation, and other industries under BAMKO and HPI brands.