Short Interest in IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT) Increases By 9.8%

IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 205,600 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the July 31st total of 187,200 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 87,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joyce J. Mason sold 7,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $281,982.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,101. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joyce J. Mason sold 7,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $281,982.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,101. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric F. Cosentino sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $29,792.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,519.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,870 shares of company stock valued at $329,880. Corporate insiders own 15.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IDT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of IDT by 163.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 94,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 58,859 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IDT by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 7,380 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of IDT by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its stake in IDT by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 53,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 11,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orchard Capital Management LLC grew its stake in IDT by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Orchard Capital Management LLC now owns 282,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,629,000 after buying an additional 14,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.34% of the company’s stock.

IDT Stock Performance

IDT stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.39. The company had a trading volume of 57,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,737. The company has a market capitalization of $972.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.26. IDT has a fifty-two week low of $21.64 and a fifty-two week high of $41.58.

IDT (NYSE:IDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $299.64 million for the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 2.97%.

IDT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. IDT’s payout ratio is currently 14.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised IDT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

IDT Company Profile

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.