SelectQuote, Inc. (NYSE:SLQT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

SelectQuote, Inc. (NYSE:SLQT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, an increase of 38.9% from the February 13th total of 1,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at SelectQuote

In related news, insider Sarah Taylor Anderson sold 50,000 shares of SelectQuote stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total value of $272,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,166 shares in the company, valued at $6,343.04. The trade was a 97.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SelectQuote

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLQT. Barclays PLC boosted its position in SelectQuote by 166.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 198,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 124,005 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in SelectQuote by 36.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 429,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 115,865 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SelectQuote in the third quarter valued at $608,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of SelectQuote by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 8,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SelectQuote in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 34.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Noble Financial raised shares of SelectQuote to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of SelectQuote in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

SelectQuote Stock Down 1.3 %

SLQT traded down $0.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $3.59. The stock had a trading volume of 875,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,269,909. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 6.36 and a current ratio of 6.36. SelectQuote has a twelve month low of $1.48 and a twelve month high of $6.86. The company has a market capitalization of $618.34 million, a PE ratio of -39.91 and a beta of 1.13.

SelectQuote (NYSE:SLQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.21. SelectQuote had a negative return on equity of 4.38% and a negative net margin of 0.95%. On average, research analysts predict that SelectQuote will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

About SelectQuote

SelectQuote, Inc operates a technology-enabled, direct-to-consumer distribution platform that sells a range of insurance products and healthcare services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Senior; Life; and Auto & Home. It distributes senior health policies, such as medicare advantage, medicare supplement, medicare part D, and other ancillary senior health insurance related products, including prescription drugs, dental, vision, and hearing plans; life insurance products, such as term life, final expense, and other ancillary products, including critical illness, accidental death, and juvenile insurance; homeowners, auto, dwelling fire, and other ancillary insurance products; and non-commercial auto and home property, and casualty policies.