Gentherm Incorporated (NASDAQ:THRM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Gentherm Incorporated (NASDAQ:THRM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 900,700 shares, a growth of 23.2% from the December 15th total of 731,200 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 237,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Gentherm Stock Up 1.5 %

THRM traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $40.14. The company had a trading volume of 186,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,153. Gentherm has a 52-week low of $37.94 and a 52-week high of $62.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.42.

Gentherm (NASDAQ:THRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The auto parts company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Gentherm had a return on equity of 14.36% and a net margin of 4.61%. The company had revenue of $371.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gentherm will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on THRM. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Gentherm from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Gentherm from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gentherm from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price target on shares of Gentherm from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Hui (Helen) Xu sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,947 shares in the company, valued at $795,774. This represents a 11.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Thomas Stocker sold 1,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.98, for a total transaction of $55,659.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $576,490.74. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of THRM. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in shares of Gentherm by 2.0% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 1,169,671 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $54,448,000 after acquiring an additional 23,051 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Gentherm by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,146,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $56,539,000 after purchasing an additional 37,365 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gentherm by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 951,798 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $46,943,000 after purchasing an additional 10,402 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Gentherm by 22.6% in the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 632,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,451,000 after purchasing an additional 116,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Gentherm by 26.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 507,598 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 107,322 shares during the last quarter. 97.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gentherm

Gentherm Incorporated designs, develops, manufactures, and sells thermal management and pneumatic comfort technologies in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive and Medical. The Automotive segment offers climate comfort systems, which include seat heaters, blowers, and thermoelectric devices for variable temperature climate control seats and steering wheel heaters that are designed to provide thermal comfort to automobile passengers; integrated electronic components, such as electronic control units; and other climate comfort systems, including neck and shoulder conditioners and climate control system products for door panels, armrests, cupholders, and storage bins.