Short Interest in Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) Increases By 15.8%

Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 402,000 shares, an increase of 15.8% from the August 15th total of 347,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 149,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SGC. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Superior Group of Companies in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Superior Group of Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price target on shares of Superior Group of Companies from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Benstock acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.45 per share, with a total value of $134,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,852,755.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Superior Group of Companies news, insider Jake Himelstein acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.00 per share, for a total transaction of $26,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $530,725. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Benstock bought 10,000 shares of Superior Group of Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.45 per share, with a total value of $134,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 583,848 shares in the company, valued at $7,852,755.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $206,700 in the last quarter. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SGC. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Superior Group of Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Superior Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Superior Group of Companies by 10,390.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,553 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 7,481 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Superior Group of Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $192,000. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Superior Group of Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $261,000. 33.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Superior Group of Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ SGC traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $14.96. The company had a trading volume of 33,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,075. Superior Group of Companies has a 1-year low of $7.37 and a 1-year high of $21.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.88 million, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.28 and a 200 day moving average of $17.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Superior Group of Companies (NASDAQ:SGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The textile maker reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $131.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.60 million. Superior Group of Companies had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 2.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Superior Group of Companies will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Superior Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Superior Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.71%.

About Superior Group of Companies

Superior Group of Companies, Inc manufactures and sells apparel and accessories in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Branded Products, Healthcare Apparel, and Contact Centers. The Branded Products segment produces and sells customized merchandising solutions, promotional products, and branded uniform to chain retailer, food service, entertainment, technology, transportation, and other industries under BAMKO and HPI brands.