Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) Short Interest Up 7.8% in January

Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the December 31st total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 478,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAKT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Daktronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Daktronics in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company.

Daktronics Price Performance

Shares of Daktronics stock opened at $16.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Daktronics has a twelve month low of $7.20 and a twelve month high of $19.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.90. The firm has a market cap of $756.27 million, a PE ratio of 64.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.09). Daktronics had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Sell-side analysts predict that Daktronics will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Daktronics news, Director John Patrick Friel sold 2,244 shares of Daktronics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total transaction of $40,773.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,201.41. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Reece A. Kurtenbach sold 8,048 shares of Daktronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.75, for a total value of $150,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 469,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,807,381.25. This represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Daktronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DAKT. Progeny 3 Inc. increased its stake in shares of Daktronics by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,284,608 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,494,000 after purchasing an additional 489,700 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Daktronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,101,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Daktronics by 76.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 451,873 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,834,000 after buying an additional 195,830 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Daktronics by 5,451.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 48,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 47,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Daktronics by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 191,799 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 46,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.69% of the company’s stock.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments.