Nathan’s Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Nathan’s Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 27,600 shares, a drop of 19.1% from the August 15th total of 34,100 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian S. Genson sold 2,000 shares of Nathan’s Famous stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.02, for a total transaction of $146,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,024.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 31.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nathan’s Famous

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Nathan’s Famous in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Nathan’s Famous by 38.5% during the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 630 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Nathan’s Famous in the second quarter worth about $74,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its stake in shares of Nathan’s Famous by 217.9% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Nathan’s Famous by 772.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Nathan’s Famous in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

Nathan’s Famous Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NATH traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $73.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 598 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,930. Nathan’s Famous has a 52 week low of $62.00 and a 52 week high of $83.00. The stock has a market cap of $300.04 million, a PE ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.26.

Nathan’s Famous (NASDAQ:NATH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter. Nathan’s Famous had a net margin of 14.94% and a negative return on equity of 44.86%. The business had revenue of $41.99 million during the quarter.

Nathan’s Famous Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Nathan’s Famous’s payout ratio is 41.15%.

About Nathan’s Famous

Nathan's Famous, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates in the foodservice industry. The company owns and franchises restaurants under the Nathan's Famous brand name, as well as sells products bearing the Nathan's Famous trademarks through various channels of distribution. It also has license agreements for the manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sale of Nathan's Famous branded hot dogs, sausages, and corned beef products in refrigerated consumer packages to be resold through retail channels, such as supermarkets, groceries, mass merchandisers, and club stores; and other Nathan's Famous branded refrigerated meat products in consumer packages to be resold through retail channels.