The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNTG) Short Interest Up 28.1% in August

The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNTG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 488,300 shares, an increase of 28.1% from the August 15th total of 381,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 197,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNTG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of The Pennant Group from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of The Pennant Group from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of The Pennant Group from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of The Pennant Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 8 Knots Management LLC grew its position in The Pennant Group by 34.0% during the first quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 2,462,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,340,000 after buying an additional 625,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in The Pennant Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,859,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,505,000 after buying an additional 77,052 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in The Pennant Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,465,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,403,000 after buying an additional 46,484 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Pennant Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,108,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,425,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Pennant Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 391,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,085,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

The Pennant Group Stock Performance

PNTG stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $34.92. 130,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 171,101. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.67, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.65. The Pennant Group has a 1-year low of $10.31 and a 1-year high of $35.57.

The Pennant Group (NASDAQ:PNTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $168.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.71 million. The Pennant Group had a net margin of 3.16% and a return on equity of 13.74%. On average, analysts expect that The Pennant Group will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

About The Pennant Group

The Pennant Group, Inc provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice Services, and Senior Living Services. The company offers home health services, including clinical services, such as nursing, speech, occupational and physical therapy, medical social work, and home health aide services; and hospice services comprising clinical care, education, and counseling services for the physical, spiritual, and psychosocial needs of terminally ill patients and their families.