Short Interest in PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) Declines By 21.6%

PLDT Inc. (NYSE:PHI) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 210,700 shares, a decrease of 21.6% from the September 15th total of 268,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 23,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.9 days.

PLDT Trading Down 0.1 %

PLDT stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.14. The stock had a trading volume of 27,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,052. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. PLDT has a 52-week low of $21.34 and a 52-week high of $30.39. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.16 and a 200 day moving average of $25.49.

PLDT (NYSE:PHI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The technology company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter. PLDT had a net margin of 12.33% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $923.00 million for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that PLDT will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PLDT Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.634 dividend. This is an increase from PLDT’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.60. This represents a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PLDT

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PLDT by 337.8% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 37,877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 29,225 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in PLDT in the 1st quarter worth about $62,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in PLDT by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,439 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in PLDT by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,836 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in PLDT in the 1st quarter worth about $258,000. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of PLDT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th.

About PLDT

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.