Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) Short Interest Up 14.4% in November

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,650,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the October 31st total of 9,310,000 shares. Currently, 48.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.6 days.

Groupon Price Performance

Shares of GRPN stock remained flat at $9.55 on Tuesday. 162,884 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,343. Groupon has a one year low of $7.75 and a one year high of $19.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.80 million, a P/E ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The coupon company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.58. Groupon had a return on equity of 91.94% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Groupon will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Groupon in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,884,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Groupon by 19.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 710,942 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after buying an additional 114,400 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Groupon by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 566,612 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $5,542,000 after buying an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Capital Management LP raised its position in Groupon by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Capital Management LP now owns 199,751 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 30,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Groupon by 259.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 191,514 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 138,218 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities cut their price target on shares of Groupon from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Groupon in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Groupon from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Groupon Company Profile

Groupon, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites.