Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the January 31st total of 1,370,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Embecta Stock Performance

Shares of EMBC stock opened at $12.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.46. Embecta has a twelve month low of $9.93 and a twelve month high of $21.48. The company has a market capitalization of $741.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.27.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.20. Embecta had a negative return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 5.25%. On average, analysts forecast that Embecta will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Embecta Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Embecta’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Embecta news, Director Milton Mayo Morris sold 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.38, for a total transaction of $50,778.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,858.54. This trade represents a 7.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Embecta

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMBC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Embecta by 175.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Embecta by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Embecta by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 32,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Embecta by 796.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Embecta by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised Embecta from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Embecta from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd.

About Embecta

Embecta Corp., a medical device company, focuses on the provision of various solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of people living with diabetes. Its products include pen needles, syringes, and safety injection devices, as well as digital applications to assist people with managing patient's diabetes.