Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:ESP) Short Interest Up 57.1% in October

Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:ESP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,200 shares, a growth of 57.1% from the October 15th total of 8,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Espey Mfg. & Electronics news, insider Peggy A. Murphy sold 1,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total value of $29,929.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESP. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Espey Mfg. & Electronics by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 86,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Espey Mfg. & Electronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Espey Mfg. & Electronics by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 111,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Espey Mfg. & Electronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP increased its stake in Espey Mfg. & Electronics by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.65% of the company’s stock.

Espey Mfg. & Electronics Stock Performance

ESP opened at $29.63 on Friday. Espey Mfg. & Electronics has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00. The company has a market cap of $82.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.15.

Espey Mfg. & Electronics (NYSEAMERICAN:ESP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 27th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.61 million for the quarter. Espey Mfg. & Electronics had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 15.95%.

Espey Mfg. & Electronics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Espey Mfg. & Electronics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Espey Mfg. & Electronics’s payout ratio is 40.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Espey Mfg. & Electronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

Espey Mfg. & Electronics Company Profile

Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp., a power electronics design and original equipment manufacturing company, designs, manufactures, and tests electronic equipment primarily for use in military and industrial applications in the United States and internationally. The company's principal products include power supplies, power converters, filters, power transformers, magnetic components, power distribution equipment, UPS systems, antennas, and high-power radar systems for use in AC and DC locomotives, shipboard power, shipboard radar, airborne power, ground-based radar, and ground mobile power applications.