Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE:AVNS) Short Interest Up 25.7% in February

Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE:AVNS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 888,700 shares, a growth of 25.7% from the February 13th total of 707,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 492,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kerr Holbrook sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total transaction of $106,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 82,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,216.75. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVNS. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Avanos Medical during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Avanos Medical during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Avanos Medical by 63.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Avanos Medical by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Avanos Medical by 493.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 6,714 shares during the period. 95.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Avanos Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Avanos Medical Price Performance

Shares of AVNS opened at $14.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $674.59 million, a PE ratio of 43.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Avanos Medical has a 1-year low of $14.25 and a 1-year high of $25.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.84.

Avanos Medical (NYSE:AVNS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.23 million. Avanos Medical had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 4.70%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avanos Medical will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Avanos Medical Company Profile

Avanos Medical, Inc, a medical technology company, offers medical device solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers a portfolio of chronic care products that include digestive health products, such as Mic-Key enteral feeding tubes, Corpak patient feeding solutions, and NeoMed neonatal and pediatric feeding solutions.