Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALCO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALCO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 225,300 shares, a decrease of 6.8% from the March 31st total of 241,800 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 24,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.4 days.

Alico Price Performance

ALCO opened at $28.55 on Tuesday. Alico has a 1 year low of $22.58 and a 1 year high of $31.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.55 million, a PE ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported ($2.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($2.06). The company had revenue of $13.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 million. Alico had a net margin of 110.84% and a negative return on equity of 14.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alico will post -3.41 EPS for the current year.

Alico Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Alico’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alico

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in Alico during the 1st quarter worth approximately $392,000. Gate City Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alico in the fourth quarter worth $20,583,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alico in the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alico during the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Towerview LLC boosted its position in Alico by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 215,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 15,981 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alico

Alico, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an agribusiness and land management company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Alico Citrus, and Land Management and Other Operations. The Alico Citrus segment engages in planting, owning, cultivating, and/or managing citrus groves to produce fruit for sale to fresh and processed citrus markets, including activities related to the purchase and resale of fruit and value-added services, which include contracting for the harvesting, marketing, and hauling of citrus.