Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,560,000 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the June 30th total of 3,150,000 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 528,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ENR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Energizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Energizer from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Energizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Energizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Energizer from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energizer presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Energizer Price Performance

ENR traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.41. 552,944 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 513,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.86. Energizer has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $37.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.53.

Energizer (NYSE:ENR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $663.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.10 million. Energizer had a net margin of 2.97% and a return on equity of 119.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Energizer will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Energizer by 230.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 55,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 38,520 shares during the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Energizer by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Energizer by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 32,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Energizer by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 6,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Energizer by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.74% of the company’s stock.

About Energizer

Energizer Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands.