HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI) Short Interest Update

HEICO Co. (NYSE:HEI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the January 15th total of 2,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 538,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on HEICO from $271.00 to $266.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp began coverage on HEICO in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.20.

HEICO Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of HEI traded down $4.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $220.45. 713,982 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 474,759. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $30.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $237.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.92. HEICO has a 12 month low of $182.47 and a 12 month high of $283.60.

HEICO (NYSE:HEI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 17th. The aerospace company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.02. HEICO had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 13.33%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. HEICO’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that HEICO will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HEICO Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.1%. HEICO’s payout ratio is currently 6.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HEICO

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in HEICO by 219,129.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 22,234,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,285,970,000 after buying an additional 22,224,106 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in HEICO during the fourth quarter worth $71,030,000. River Global Investors LLP acquired a new position in HEICO during the fourth quarter worth $16,073,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in HEICO by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 415,542 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $98,791,000 after purchasing an additional 66,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of HEICO by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 453,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,861,000 after acquiring an additional 51,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.12% of the company’s stock.

About HEICO

HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells aerospace, defense, and electronic related products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Flight Support Group segment provides jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts; thermal insulation blankets and parts; renewable/reusable insulation systems; and specialty components.