Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 185,300 shares, a growth of 23.2% from the December 15th total of 150,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 138,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Travelzoo

In related news, major shareholder Azzurro Capital Inc sold 30,000 shares of Travelzoo stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.39, for a total transaction of $461,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,605,341.44. This trade represents a 0.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Holger Bartel sold 23,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.73, for a total value of $454,914.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,920. The trade was a 85.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 265,557 shares of company stock valued at $4,672,865 over the last 90 days. 47.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Travelzoo by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 145,837 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 18,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Travelzoo by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 82,241 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 7,857 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Travelzoo by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 54,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 19,888 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Travelzoo by 103.5% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 25,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 12,854 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Travelzoo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $298,000. 27.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TZOO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of Travelzoo from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Travelzoo from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Travelzoo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Travelzoo Trading Up 1.0 %

Travelzoo stock opened at $20.86 on Friday. Travelzoo has a twelve month low of $7.12 and a twelve month high of $22.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.15 million, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.60.

Travelzoo (NASDAQ:TZOO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The information services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. Travelzoo had a return on equity of 210.54% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $20.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Travelzoo will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelzoo announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 23rd that allows the company to repurchase 1,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Travelzoo Company Profile

Travelzoo, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an Internet media company that provides travel, entertainment, and local experiences worldwide. It operates in four segments: Travelzoo North America, Travelzoo Europe, Jack's Flight Club, and New Initiatives. The company offers Travelzoo website, Travelzoo Top 20 email newsletters, Standalone email newsletters, Travelzoo Network, Travelzoo mobile applications, Jack's Flight Club website, Jack's Flight Club mobile applications, and Jack's Flight Club newsletters.