Short Interest in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) Expands By 9.2%

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLWS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the December 15th total of 5,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 372,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.3 days. Approximately 21.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Stock Performance

FLWS stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.14. The company had a trading volume of 489,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,676. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.38. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has a fifty-two week low of $7.01 and a fifty-two week high of $11.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.75 million, a PE ratio of -58.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM (NASDAQ:FLWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty retailer reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $193.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.88 million. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM had a positive return on equity of 2.10% and a negative net margin of 0.50%. The business’s revenue was down 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that 1-800-FLOWERS.COM will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FLWS has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered 1-800-FLOWERS.COM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th.

Insider Activity at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

In related news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.18 per share, with a total value of $359,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,224,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,330,933.52. This represents a 1.20 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 208,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,547,210 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 51.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 1-800-FLOWERS.COM

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLWS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 5.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,635,093 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,086,000 after buying an additional 129,627 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 686,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,540,000 after purchasing an additional 93,041 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 599,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 557,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,307,000 after purchasing an additional 152,536 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 340,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 114,072 shares during the period. 38.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Company Profile

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc provides gifts for various occasions in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Consumer Floral & Gifts, Gourmet Foods & Gift Baskets, and BloomNet. The company offers a range of products, including fresh-cut flowers, floral and fruit arrangements, plants, gifts, personalized products, dipped berries, popcorns, gourmet foods and gift baskets, cookies, chocolates, candies, wines, and gift-quality fruits.