Green Dot Co. (NYSE:GDOT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Green Dot Co. (NYSE:GDOT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, a growth of 22.6% from the November 30th total of 1,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 455,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Green Dot Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:GDOT traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $10.58. 557,407 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. Green Dot has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $13.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $569.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Topline Capital Partners, Lp acquired 135,123 shares of Green Dot stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.94 per share, for a total transaction of $1,478,245.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 6,292,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,843,100.72. This represents a 2.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Green Dot during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Green Dot in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Green Dot by 44.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Torno Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Green Dot during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Green Dot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on GDOT shares. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Green Dot from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Green Dot from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.75.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Corporation, a financial technology and registered bank holding company, provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer Services, Business to Business Services, and Money Movement Services. The company provides deposit account programs, including consumer and small business checking account products, network-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards and gift cards, and secured credit programs.