Short Interest in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Grows By 12.1%

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, a growth of 12.1% from the October 15th total of 2,240,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 618,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Denny’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Denny’s in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Denny’s from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Denny’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.33.

Denny’s Price Performance

DENN traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $9.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 771,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 553,367. Denny’s has a 1 year low of $8.11 and a 1 year high of $13.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.70 and its 200 day moving average is $10.22. The stock has a market cap of $516.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.87.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. Denny’s had a negative return on equity of 88.90% and a net margin of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $114.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. Denny’s’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Denny’s will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Denny’s

In other Denny’s news, Director John C. Miller sold 6,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.50, for a total value of $62,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 963,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,154,523. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Denny’s news, Director John C. Miller sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.62, for a total value of $240,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 928,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,572.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Miller sold 6,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.50, for a total transaction of $62,538.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 963,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,154,523. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 216,483 shares of company stock worth $1,987,916 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Denny’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Denny’s by 100.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its stake in Denny’s by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Denny’s by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Denny’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,000. 84.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Denny’s

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brand in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments: Denny's and Other. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.