Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) Short Interest Update

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,140,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the December 15th total of 16,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HLN. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Haleon from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut Haleon from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised Haleon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Haleon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Haleon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Haleon in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Haleon by 2,029.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Haleon by 3,470.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Haleon in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Haleon by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 3,812 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Haleon Stock Performance

HLN stock traded up $0.05 on Monday, hitting $9.24. The company had a trading volume of 21,226,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,607,522. The stock has a market cap of $41.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.71. Haleon has a 12-month low of $7.89 and a 12-month high of $10.80.

Haleon Company Profile

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.