Short Interest in American Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSWA) Increases By 5.2%

American Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSWA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 313,600 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the February 29th total of 298,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 189,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Software from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th.

American Software Stock Down 1.2 %

American Software stock opened at $10.99 on Wednesday. American Software has a 52-week low of $9.38 and a 52-week high of $13.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.03.

American Software (NASDAQ:AMSWA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The software maker reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.13. American Software had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $25.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.12 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Software will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Software Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. American Software’s payout ratio is 125.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of American Software by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 152,602 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Software in the third quarter valued at about $4,195,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in American Software by 31.9% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 16,746 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in American Software by 1.6% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 113,603 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in American Software by 3.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,100 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.98% of the company’s stock.

American Software Company Profile

American Software, Inc develops, markets, and supports a range of computer business application software products in the United States and internationally. It operates through Supply Chain Management (SCM), Information Technology Consulting (IT Consulting), and Other segments. The SCM segment leverages a single platform spanning eight supply chain process areas including product, demand, inventory, network optimization supply, deploy aligned with integrated business planning and supply chain data management.