Short Interest in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) Rises By 9.2%

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the December 15th total of 5,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 372,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.3 days. Approximately 21.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

In other news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.18 per share, for a total transaction of $359,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,224,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,330,933.52. This trade represents a 1.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 208,000 shares of company stock worth $1,547,210 in the last three months. Company insiders own 51.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM during the 3rd quarter valued at $106,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 13.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM during the third quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 25,633 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.43% of the company’s stock.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Stock Down 0.2 %

FLWS stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $8.14. 489,811 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 339,676. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.36. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has a 12-month low of $7.01 and a 12-month high of $11.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $522.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM (NASDAQ:FLWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty retailer reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $193.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.88 million. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM had a negative net margin of 0.50% and a positive return on equity of 2.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.48) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that 1-800-FLOWERS.COM will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FLWS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM in a report on Saturday. StockNews.com downgraded 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

About 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc provides gifts for various occasions in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Consumer Floral & Gifts, Gourmet Foods & Gift Baskets, and BloomNet. The company offers a range of products, including fresh-cut flowers, floral and fruit arrangements, plants, gifts, personalized products, dipped berries, popcorns, gourmet foods and gift baskets, cookies, chocolates, candies, wines, and gift-quality fruits.