Varex Imaging Co. (NASDAQ:VREX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Varex Imaging Co. (NASDAQ:VREX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,170,000 shares, an increase of 37.2% from the January 31st total of 853,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 590,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Varex Imaging Price Performance

Shares of VREX stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.79. The company had a trading volume of 86,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,449. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.39. Varex Imaging has a 52-week low of $10.19 and a 52-week high of $18.30. The company has a market capitalization of $526.95 million, a P/E ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 0.62.

Varex Imaging (NASDAQ:VREX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.03. Varex Imaging had a negative net margin of 5.79% and a positive return on equity of 4.00%. Equities research analysts forecast that Varex Imaging will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VREX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Varex Imaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Varex Imaging from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Varex Imaging in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Institutional Trading of Varex Imaging

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VREX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Varex Imaging by 4,739.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 200,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 196,201 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Varex Imaging by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 97,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 12,966 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Varex Imaging in the 3rd quarter worth $415,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Varex Imaging by 1,359.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 48,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Varex Imaging during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,593,000.

About Varex Imaging

Varex Imaging Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells X-ray imaging components. The company operates through two segments, Medical and Industrial. The Medical segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services X-ray imaging components, comprising X-ray tubes, digital detectors and accessories, ionization chambers, high voltage connectors, image-processing software and workstations, 3D reconstruction software, computer-aided diagnostic software, collimators, automatic exposure control devices, generators, and heat exchangers.