Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) Short Interest Up 17.0% in February

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,130,000 shares, a growth of 17.0% from the February 13th total of 13,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MAT. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mattel from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Mattel from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mattel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Mattel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mattel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mattel

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mattel by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 46,174,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,984,400 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Mattel by 84.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,352,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,757,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270,162 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mattel during the fourth quarter valued at $54,929,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mattel during the fourth quarter valued at $53,238,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mattel by 468.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,394,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,193,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797,559 shares during the period. 97.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mattel Stock Performance

Shares of MAT stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,673,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,176,628. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.65. Mattel has a fifty-two week low of $15.87 and a fifty-two week high of $22.07.

Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.15. Mattel had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 25.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mattel will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Mattel Company Profile

Mattel, Inc, a toy and family entertainment company, designs, manufactures, and markets toys and consumer products in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through North America, International, and American Girl segments. It offers dolls and accessories, as well as books, content, gaming, and lifestyle products for children under the Barbie, American Girl, Disney Princess and Disney Frozen, Monster High, and Polly Pocket brands; die-cast vehicles, tracks, playsets, and accessories for kids, adults, and collectors under the Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, Hot Wheels Mario Kart, Matchbox, and Cars brand names; and infant, toddler, and preschool products comprising content, toys, live events, and other consumer products under the Fisher-Price, Little People and Imaginext, and Thomas & Friends, and Power wheels brands.