Short Interest in Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI) Drops By 23.8%

Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, a decline of 23.8% from the February 28th total of 4,830,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on OMI. UBS Group dropped their price target on Owens & Minor from $25.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Owens & Minor from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Owens & Minor from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Owens & Minor

In other news, major shareholder Coliseum Capital Management, L acquired 354,901 shares of Owens & Minor stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.19 per share, with a total value of $3,261,540.19. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,824,599 shares in the company, valued at $90,288,064.81. The trade was a 3.75 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Owens & Minor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OMI. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Owens & Minor by 758.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Owens & Minor by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Owens & Minor by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Owens & Minor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Owens & Minor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,000. 98.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Owens & Minor Stock Performance

Shares of OMI traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $9.07. 24,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,571,097. The stock has a market capitalization of $700.40 million, a P/E ratio of -13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.27. Owens & Minor has a 12-month low of $6.07 and a 12-month high of $28.35.

Owens & Minor (NYSE:OMI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. Owens & Minor had a negative net margin of 0.46% and a positive return on equity of 14.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Owens & Minor will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens & Minor declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 28th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Owens & Minor Company Profile

Owens & Minor, Inc is a healthcare solutions company, which engages in the product manufacturing and delivery, home health supply, and perioperative services to support care through the hospital and into the home. It operates through the Products and Healthcare Services, and Patient Direct segments.