Short Interest in CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) Expands By 5.3%

CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the April 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 147,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Sidoti cut CTS from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CTS from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

CTS Price Performance

NYSE CTS opened at $52.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CTS has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $52.58.

CTS (NYSE:CTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The electronics maker reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.75 million. CTS had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 10.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that CTS will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CTS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. CTS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.41%.

Insider Transactions at CTS

In related news, CFO Ashish Agrawal sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $37,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 127,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,014,919. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other CTS news, CEO Kieran M. O’sullivan sold 27,905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $1,314,604.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 455,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,465,341.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ashish Agrawal sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $37,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,014,919. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,602 shares of company stock valued at $2,947,896. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CTS. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CTS by 160.3% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 963,954 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $45,103,000 after purchasing an additional 593,641 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CTS in the 4th quarter valued at $9,855,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CTS in the fourth quarter worth $8,859,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CTS by 181.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 216,035 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $9,017,000 after acquiring an additional 139,269 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CTS by 4.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,729,923 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $113,947,000 after purchasing an additional 122,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.87% of the company’s stock.

About CTS

CTS Corporation manufactures and sells sensors, actuators, and connectivity components in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides encoders, rotary position sensors, slide potentiometers, industrial and commercial rotary potentiometers. It also provides non-contacting, and contacting pedals; and eBrake pedals.