Short Interest in CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) Expands By 6.0%

CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 745,900 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the November 15th total of 703,500 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 141,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

CTS Price Performance

NYSE:CTS traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.62. 197,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 149,377. CTS has a 12 month low of $40.09 and a 12 month high of $59.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.71 and a 200 day moving average of $50.45.

CTS (NYSE:CTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $132.42 million for the quarter. CTS had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.66%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CTS will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CTS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. CTS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kieran M. O’sullivan sold 12,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.50, for a total value of $710,067.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 400,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,225,308. This represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,956 shares of company stock worth $3,331,185. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CTS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CTS by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,180 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $39,010,000 after acquiring an additional 33,449 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in CTS by 256.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,238 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,769,000 after purchasing an additional 41,164 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of CTS during the third quarter worth $4,960,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of CTS by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,993,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $96,463,000 after buying an additional 374,104 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of CTS by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 138,444 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,698,000 after buying an additional 27,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered CTS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered CTS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

CTS Company Profile

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.