CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CTS Co. (NYSE:CTS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 432,200 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the January 31st total of 352,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 145,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded CTS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

CTS Price Performance

Shares of CTS stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $43.75. 83,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 140,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.12. CTS has a 52 week low of $41.90 and a 52 week high of $59.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05 and a beta of 0.59.

CTS (NYSE:CTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The electronics maker reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.06). CTS had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 11.27%. Research analysts expect that CTS will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CTS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. CTS’s payout ratio is 8.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CTS news, CEO Kieran M. O’sullivan sold 6,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.83, for a total value of $373,502.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 375,643 shares in the company, valued at $20,972,148.69. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of CTS by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,993,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $96,463,000 after purchasing an additional 374,104 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CTS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,852,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of CTS during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,960,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CTS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,439,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CTS by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,218,002 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $116,956,000 after buying an additional 73,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.87% of the company’s stock.

About CTS

CTS Corporation manufactures and sells sensors, actuators, and connectivity components in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company provides encoders, rotary position sensors, slide potentiometers, industrial and commercial rotary potentiometers. It also provides non-contacting, and contacting pedals; and eBrake pedals.