Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) Short Interest Up 32.7% in February

by · The Markets Daily

Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTKGet Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,812,600 shares, a growth of 32.7% from the January 29th total of 1,366,231 shares. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 337,286 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 337,286 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SSTK. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Shutterstock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Shutterstock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Shutterstock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Read Our Latest Report on Shutterstock

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shutterstock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SSTK. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Shutterstock by 10.7% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shutterstock by 40.7% in the third quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Shutterstock by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Shutterstock by 5.1% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Shutterstock by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 113,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. 82.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shutterstock Trading Up 4.7%

SSTK traded up $0.79 on Wednesday, hitting $17.50. The company had a trading volume of 424,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,573. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.26. Shutterstock has a 1 year low of $14.35 and a 1 year high of $29.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $622.07 million, a P/E ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.23.

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTKGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The business services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.38). Shutterstock had a return on equity of 16.13% and a net margin of 4.60%.The company had revenue of $220.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.28 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Shutterstock will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Shutterstock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from Shutterstock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Shutterstock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.63%.

Shutterstock Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Shutterstock, Inc (NYSE:SSTK) operates a leading global creative platform that provides royalty-free stock content to businesses, marketing agencies and media outlets. Its primary offerings include high-resolution photographs, vector graphics, illustrations, video footage and music tracks, all available through subscription plans or on-demand licensing. The platform also features customizable design tools and collaborative workspaces that enable customers to create and manage visual content more efficiently.

Founded in 2003 by Jon Oringer, Shutterstock began as an online marketplace offering a modest selection of images and quickly scaled its library to hundreds of millions of assets.

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