Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNNA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNNA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 105,100 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 112,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.2 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hennessy Advisors Price Performance

HNNA opened at $12.39 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.36 million, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 13.78 and a quick ratio of 13.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.19. Hennessy Advisors has a 1 year low of $6.38 and a 1 year high of $13.88.

Hennessy Advisors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.138 dividend. This represents a $0.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Hennessy Advisors’s payout ratio is currently 59.78%.

Insider Activity at Hennessy Advisors

In related news, Director Thomas L. Seavey sold 11,074 shares of Hennessy Advisors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total transaction of $126,686.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $805,707.76. This trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Daniel B. Steadman sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.75, for a total transaction of $34,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $521,018.50. This trade represents a 6.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,083 shares of company stock worth $367,315 over the last three months. 37.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Hennessy Advisors by 1.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 95,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hennessy Advisors during the 3rd quarter worth $518,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hennessy Advisors by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 11,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 10.31% of the company’s stock.

About Hennessy Advisors

Hennessy Advisors, Inc is an employee owned investment manager. It provides its services to Hennessy Funds and investment companies. The firm launches and manages equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. It invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth stocks of companies.