Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) saw a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 769,000 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the February 28th total of 906,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 202,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Inter Parfums

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IPAR. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Inter Parfums in the 4th quarter valued at $1,606,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Inter Parfums by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 92,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,224,000 after acquiring an additional 13,605 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC purchased a new position in Inter Parfums during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Inter Parfums by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 37,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,919,000 after purchasing an additional 10,013 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Inter Parfums in the 4th quarter valued at $46,649,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPAR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Inter Parfums from $158.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Inter Parfums in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. BWS Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Inter Parfums in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Inter Parfums from $155.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.80.

Inter Parfums Trading Down 7.0 %

IPAR stock traded down $8.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $106.41. 172,860 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,774. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 1.18. Inter Parfums has a one year low of $102.64 and a one year high of $148.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.84.

Inter Parfums (NASDAQ:IPAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.05). Inter Parfums had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $361.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.56 million. Equities research analysts expect that Inter Parfums will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Inter Parfums Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Inter Parfums’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Inter Parfums’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.87%.

About Inter Parfums

Inter Parfums, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of fragrances and fragrance related products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, European Based Operations and United States Based Operations. The company offers its fragrance and cosmetic products under the Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Lanvin, Moncler, Montblanc, Rochas, S.T.