Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 185,300 shares, an increase of 23.2% from the December 15th total of 150,400 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 138,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Travelzoo Stock Performance

Travelzoo stock opened at $20.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.60. Travelzoo has a one year low of $7.12 and a one year high of $22.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.15 million, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 1.71.

Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. Travelzoo had a return on equity of 210.54% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $20.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Travelzoo will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelzoo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 23rd that allows the company to repurchase 1,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Holger Bartel sold 23,057 shares of Travelzoo stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.73, for a total value of $454,914.61. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $78,920. This trade represents a 85.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Azzurro Capital Inc sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.39, for a total transaction of $461,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,605,341.44. This trade represents a 0.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 265,557 shares of company stock worth $4,672,865 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 47.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TZOO. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Travelzoo during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Travelzoo in the 2nd quarter worth about $82,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Travelzoo during the 3rd quarter worth about $134,000. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in shares of Travelzoo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Travelzoo during the third quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TZOO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Travelzoo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Travelzoo from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barrington Research increased their price target on Travelzoo from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Travelzoo Company Profile

Travelzoo, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an Internet media company that provides travel, entertainment, and local experiences worldwide. It operates in four segments: Travelzoo North America, Travelzoo Europe, Jack's Flight Club, and New Initiatives. The company offers Travelzoo website, Travelzoo Top 20 email newsletters, Standalone email newsletters, Travelzoo Network, Travelzoo mobile applications, Jack's Flight Club website, Jack's Flight Club mobile applications, and Jack's Flight Club newsletters.