Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a growth of 22.7% from the February 13th total of 3,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 744,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days. Currently, 14.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MNRO. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Monro from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Monro in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Monro in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Monro Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MNRO stock traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $16.85. 685,882 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,438. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $504.64 million, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.48 and a 200 day moving average of $24.38. Monro has a fifty-two week low of $15.75 and a fifty-two week high of $32.06.

Monro (NASDAQ:MNRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The auto parts company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.12). Monro had a return on equity of 3.76% and a net margin of 1.64%. Equities analysts anticipate that Monro will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Monro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. Monro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 175.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Monro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Monro by 30.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,666 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Monro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Monro during the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Monro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000.

About Monro

Monro, Inc provides automotive undercar repair, and tire sales and services in the United States. It offers replacement tires and tire related services, automotive undercar repair services, and routine maintenance services primarily to passenger cars, light trucks, and vans. The company also provides other products and services for brakes; mufflers and exhaust systems; and steering, drive train, suspension, and wheel alignment.