Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 984,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 338,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KFY shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Korn Ferry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Korn Ferry Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KFY traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.69. The company had a trading volume of 522,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,048. Korn Ferry has a 52 week low of $55.26 and a 52 week high of $80.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The business services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.21. Korn Ferry had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The company had revenue of $682.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $675.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Korn Ferry will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Korn Ferry Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Korn Ferry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Arian sold 20,000 shares of Korn Ferry stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.24, for a total transaction of $1,444,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,975,096.56. The trade was a 22.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korn Ferry

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KFY. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Korn Ferry by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Korn Ferry by 202.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Korn Ferry in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Korn Ferry by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 77,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. 98.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Korn Ferry Company Profile

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations.