United-Guardian, Inc. (NASDAQ:UG) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

United-Guardian, Inc. (NASDAQ:UG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 11,544 shares, a growth of 85.0% from the July 30th total of 6,241 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,926 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of United-Guardian

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of United-Guardian by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 162,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United-Guardian by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of United-Guardian by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 186,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United-Guardian in the second quarter worth $105,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United-Guardian during the second quarter worth $143,000. 23.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United-Guardian from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, United-Guardian currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

United-Guardian Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of United-Guardian stock opened at $7.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.85 million, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.94. United-Guardian has a 12 month low of $5.58 and a 12 month high of $8.77.

United-Guardian (NASDAQ:UG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $3.11 million for the quarter. United-Guardian had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 22.01%.

United-Guardian Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 819.0%. United-Guardian’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.11%.

About United-Guardian

United-Guardian, Inc, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, develops and supplies specialty ingredients and finished products for the personal care, cosmetic and esthetic markets. Its Specialty Ingredients segment offers antimicrobial preservatives, conditioning polymers, emulsifiers, UV filters and other functional actives that are incorporated into lotions, creams, shampoos and professional esthetic formulations.

The company’s Finished Products segment markets a range of skin and hair care items under the Guardian brand, providing private-label and contract manufacturing services to spas, salons and dermatology clinics.