Wabash National Co. (NYSE:WNC) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Wabash National Co. (NYSE:WNC) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a drop of 47.0% from the March 15th total of 3,170,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Wabash National by 121.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 163,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 89,522 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Wabash National by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 160,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 51,274 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wabash National during the 3rd quarter worth $192,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wabash National in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,827,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Wabash National during the fourth quarter worth about $644,000. 97.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wabash National Stock Performance

Wabash National stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.97. 686,434 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 735,658. Wabash National has a fifty-two week low of $9.00 and a fifty-two week high of $26.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $11.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $421.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 1.49.

Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.04). Wabash National had a positive return on equity of 14.72% and a negative net margin of 14.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wabash National will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wabash National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Wabash National’s payout ratio is -4.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Wabash National from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Wabash National Company Profile

Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products.