Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:TILE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,951,969 shares, an increase of 41.5% from the March 15th total of 2,793,133 shares. Approximately 7.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 898,041 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TILE. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Interface from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Barrington Research increased their price objective on shares of Interface from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Interface from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interface currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Interface news, VP James Poppens sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 103,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,880.30. This represents a 7.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,650 shares of company stock valued at $736,292. 2.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TILE. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Interface by 133.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,008,260 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $56,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149,733 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Interface during the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,000. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Interface by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 53,739 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 15,401 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Interface during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Interface during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Interface Price Performance

NASDAQ:TILE traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.15. 349,719 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 513,440. Interface has a 12 month low of $17.72 and a 12 month high of $35.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.94 and a 200 day moving average of $28.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.96.

Interface (NASDAQ:TILE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The textile maker reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.09. Interface had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $349.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Interface will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interface Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This is a boost from Interface’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Interface’s payout ratio is 6.12%.

About Interface

Interface, Inc (NASDAQ: TILE) is a global manufacturer of modular flooring and resilient commercial flooring solutions. The company specializes in carpet tiles, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and other environmentally responsible hard-surface products designed for use in corporate, education, healthcare, hospitality and retail environments. Interface’s portfolio also includes broadloom carpet, rubber flooring and acoustic underlays, all engineered to meet performance, design and sustainability requirements in modern interior spaces.

Founded in 1973 by Ray C.