Enhabit, Inc. (NYSE:EHAB) Short Interest Up 14.3% in May

Enhabit, Inc. (NYSE:EHAB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, an increase of 14.3% from the May 15th total of 2,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 539,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 6.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Enhabit Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EHAB traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.80. 327,054 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 425,545. The company has a market cap of $441.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. Enhabit has a one year low of $7.12 and a one year high of $14.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.58 and a 200 day moving average of $10.03.

Enhabit (NYSE:EHAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $262.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.25 million. Enhabit had a positive return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 7.95%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Enhabit will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bolton bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.33 per share, for a total transaction of $83,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 52,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,650.67. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 22,000 shares of company stock worth $183,700 in the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Enhabit

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Enhabit by 12,146.2% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 244,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 242,924 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in Enhabit by 414.5% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,190,000 after buying an additional 1,374,231 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Enhabit by 26.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,694,000 after buying an additional 160,776 shares in the last quarter. JANA Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in Enhabit in the third quarter worth about $20,532,000. Finally, Orchard Capital Management LLC increased its position in Enhabit by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Orchard Capital Management LLC now owns 600,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,214,000 after buying an additional 31,929 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on EHAB shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Enhabit in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Enhabit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. SVB Leerink raised Enhabit from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $8.50 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Enhabit from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $8.75 in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised Enhabit from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.13.

About Enhabit

Enhabit, Inc provides home health and hospice services in the United States. Its home health services include patient education, pain management, wound care and dressing changes, cardiac rehabilitation, infusion therapy, pharmaceutical administration, and skilled observation and assessment services; practices to treat chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, low vision, spinal stenosis, Parkinson's disease, osteoporosis, complex wound care and chronic pain, along with disease-specific plans for patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure, post-orthopedic surgery, or injury and respiratory diseases; and physical, occupational and speech therapists provide therapy services.