Short Interest in TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI) Expands By 10.6%

TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,120,000 shares, a growth of 10.6% from the October 31st total of 6,440,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TechnipFMC

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTI. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in TechnipFMC by 203.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 73.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in TechnipFMC in the third quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in TechnipFMC during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of TechnipFMC during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. 96.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TechnipFMC Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of TechnipFMC stock traded down $0.06 on Monday, hitting $31.31. The stock had a trading volume of 6,185,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,004,272. The stock has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 1.51. TechnipFMC has a one year low of $18.33 and a one year high of $31.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.63.

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.25. TechnipFMC had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. TechnipFMC’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TechnipFMC will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

TechnipFMC declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to purchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

TechnipFMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. TechnipFMC’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on TechnipFMC from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of TechnipFMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of TechnipFMC in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of TechnipFMC from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised TechnipFMC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TechnipFMC has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.91.

TechnipFMC Company Profile

TechnipFMC plc engages in the energy projects, technologies, and systems and services businesses in Europe, Central Asia, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Subsea and Surface Technologies. The Subsea segment engages in the design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, and life of field services for subsea systems, subsea field infrastructure, and subsea pipe systems used in oil and gas production and transportation.