Short Interest in Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) Increases By 8.0%

Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the August 15th total of 5,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at Genworth Financial

In related news, CEO Thomas J. Mcinerney sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.88, for a total value of $1,032,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,532,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,186,723.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genworth Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Genworth Financial by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 24,244,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,893,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069,355 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Genworth Financial by 9.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,054,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,607,000 after acquiring an additional 590,496 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Genworth Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,031,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,610,000 after acquiring an additional 114,372 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Genworth Financial by 138.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,233,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Genworth Financial by 93.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 4,052,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958,632 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Genworth Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

Genworth Financial Stock Performance

GNW opened at $6.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.36. Genworth Financial has a 1 year low of $5.32 and a 1 year high of $7.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.09. Genworth Financial had a net margin of 0.43% and a return on equity of 0.25%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS.

About Genworth Financial

Genworth Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides mortgage and long-term care insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Enact, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Life and Annuities. The Enact segment offers private mortgage insurance products primarily insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans; and pool mortgage insurance products.