Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a decline of 16.8% from the September 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 799,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honda Motor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HMC. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Honda Motor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,644,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,098,000 after acquiring an additional 232,148 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in Honda Motor by 20.9% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,176,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,538,000 after purchasing an additional 896,048 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in Honda Motor by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,061,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,459,000 after buying an additional 33,067 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Honda Motor by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 502,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,702,000 after buying an additional 12,200 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Honda Motor by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 442,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,265,000 after buying an additional 41,216 shares in the last quarter. 5.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th.

Honda Motor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HMC traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $31.67. The company had a trading volume of 17,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,344. The stock has a market cap of $54.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Honda Motor has a 12 month low of $27.69 and a 12 month high of $37.90.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $34.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.75 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 8.72%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Honda Motor will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Honda Motor Company Profile

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.