The Marcus Co. (NYSE:MCS) Short Interest Down 23.4% in October

The Marcus Co. (NYSE:MCS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a drop of 23.4% from the September 30th total of 1,710,000 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 366,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marcus

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marcus by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,853,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 21,646 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Marcus by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after buying an additional 294,593 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Marcus by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,654,000 after buying an additional 46,891 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Marcus by 71.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 442,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,036,000 after acquiring an additional 183,909 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Marcus by 133.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 436,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,227,000 after acquiring an additional 250,019 shares during the period. 81.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Marcus in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Marcus from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Marcus from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on Marcus from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Marcus Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MCS traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.66. 175,655 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 540,820. Marcus has a 1 year low of $9.56 and a 1 year high of $16.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.70 million, a P/E ratio of 69.42 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Marcus (NYSE:MCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.20). Marcus had a negative return on equity of 1.36% and a negative net margin of 3.11%. The firm had revenue of $176.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts predict that Marcus will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Marcus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. Marcus’s payout ratio is 116.67%.

About Marcus

The Marcus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates movie theatres, and hotels and resorts in the United States. It operates a family entertainment center and multiscreen motion picture theatres under the Big Screen Bistro, Big Screen Bistro Express, BistroPlex, and Movie Tavern by Marcus brand names.