Emerald (NYSE:EEX) Stock Price Up 9.2% – Here’s Why

Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE:EEX)’s stock price shot up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $3.98 and last traded at $3.99. 104,253 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 171,630 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.80 price target on shares of Emerald in a research report on Thursday.

Emerald Trading Up 11.4 %

The company has a market cap of $825.54 million, a P/E ratio of -7.53 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.64.

Emerald (NYSE:EEX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 14th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.03. The firm had revenue of $106.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.05 million. Emerald had a negative return on equity of 13.26% and a negative net margin of 5.29%.

Emerald Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Emerald’s payout ratio is presently -11.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Emerald

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cannell Capital LLC increased its holdings in Emerald by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 2,181,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,513,000 after acquiring an additional 104,299 shares during the period. Advisory Research Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Emerald by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 1,309,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,310,000 after purchasing an additional 175,000 shares during the period. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Emerald by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 790,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,812,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Emerald during the fourth quarter valued at $2,970,000. Finally, MSD Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Emerald during the fourth quarter worth about $2,410,000. 14.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Emerald

Emerald Holding, Inc operates business-to-business (B2B) trade shows in the United States. The company provides B2B trade show franchises; and B2B print publications and digital media products, which provide industry specific business news and information across various sectors. It also offers B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions to manufacturers and retailers through Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms.