Siga Technologies Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:SIGA)

Siga Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 1,200 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,438% compared to the average volume of 78 call options.

Siga Technologies Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ SIGA opened at $6.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $468.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.93. Siga Technologies has a 1-year low of $4.95 and a 1-year high of $12.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.05 and a 200-day moving average of $5.97.

Siga Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.04 million for the quarter. Siga Technologies had a net margin of 40.30% and a return on equity of 25.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Siga Technologies will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Siga Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Siga Technologies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Siga Technologies by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,158,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,080 shares during the period. AltraVue Capital LLC raised its position in Siga Technologies by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 2,639,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,864,000 after purchasing an additional 326,630 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Siga Technologies by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 417,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 293,836 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Siga Technologies by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,126,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,777,000 after purchasing an additional 217,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Siga Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $815,000. 55.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Siga Technologies

SIGA Technologies, Inc, a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the health security related markets in the United States. Its lead product is TPOXX, an oral formulation antiviral drug for the treatment of human smallpox disease caused by variola virus. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in New York, New York.