Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) Short Interest Up 18.1% in February

Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 832,500 shares, an increase of 18.1% from the February 13th total of 705,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 136,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Ennis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Ennis by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,617,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,792 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Ennis by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,485,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,601 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ennis by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 723,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,260,000 after acquiring an additional 16,508 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Ennis by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 629,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,269,000 after acquiring an additional 31,985 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ennis by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 617,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,017,000 after acquiring an additional 133,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Ennis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Ennis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:EBF traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.20. The company had a trading volume of 63,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 125,044. Ennis has a 12-month low of $18.88 and a 12-month high of $25.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $551.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.55.

Ennis (NYSE:EBF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. Ennis had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 10.35%.

Ennis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Ennis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

About Ennis

Ennis, Inc manufactures and sells business forms and other business products in the United States. The company offers snap sets, continuous forms, laser cut sheets, tags, labels, envelopes, integrated products, jumbo rolls, and pressure sensitive products under the Ennis, Royal Business Forms, Block Graphics, 360º Custom Labels, ColorWorx, Enfusion, Uncompromised Check Solutions, VersaSeal, Ad Concepts, FormSource Limited, Star Award Ribbon Company, Witt Printing, B&D Litho, Genforms, PrintGraphics, Calibrated Forms, PrintXcel, Printegra, Forms Manufacturers, Mutual Graphics, TRI-C Business Forms, Major Business Systems, Independent Printing, Hoosier Data Forms, Hayes Graphics, Wright Business Graphics, Wright 360, Integrated Print & Graphics, the Flesh Company, Impressions Direct, and AmeriPrint brands.