Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,450,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the September 30th total of 3,480,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRMW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Primo Water in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Primo Water in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Primo Water from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Primo Water from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Primo Water

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Primo Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Primo Water by 375.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Primo Water by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Primo Water during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Primo Water in the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.71% of the company’s stock.

Primo Water Stock Performance

Shares of Primo Water stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 659,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,216. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.48. Primo Water has a fifty-two week low of $12.97 and a fifty-two week high of $28.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Primo Water (NYSE:PRMW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Primo Water had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $485.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $477.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Primo Water will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Primo Water Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.3%. Primo Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.36%.

Primo Water Company Profile

Primo Water Corporation provides pure-play water solutions for residential and commercial customers. It offers bottled water, water dispensers, purified bottled water, self-service refill drinking water, premium spring, mineral water, sparkling and flavored essence water, filtration units, and coffee.