Short Interest in CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ) Rises By 15.1%

CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, a growth of 15.1% from the October 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 325,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CBIZ

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBZ. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CBIZ by 2,980.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in CBIZ by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of CBIZ by 6,335.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of CBIZ in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of CBIZ by 29.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.44% of the company’s stock.

CBIZ Stock Up 0.2 %

CBZ stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.58. The stock had a trading volume of 153,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,886. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.49 and a 200 day moving average of $73.30. CBIZ has a 1-year low of $57.19 and a 1-year high of $86.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

CBIZ (NYSE:CBZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. CBIZ had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 15.12%. The firm had revenue of $438.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $440.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. CBIZ’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that CBIZ will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sidoti upgraded CBIZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CBIZ from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th.

About CBIZ

CBIZ, Inc provides financial, insurance, and advisory services in the United States and Canada. It operates through Financial Services, Benefits and Insurance Services, and National Practices segments. The Financial Services segment offers accounting and tax, financial advisory, valuation, risk and advisory, and government healthcare consulting services.