Short Interest in Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) Increases By 6.4%

Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the December 15th total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.4 days. Approximately 7.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Lifecore Biomedical Price Performance

Shares of LFCR stock opened at $6.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.21. Lifecore Biomedical has a 1-year low of $3.68 and a 1-year high of $8.90.

Lifecore Biomedical (NASDAQ:LFCR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 2nd. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.02. Lifecore Biomedical had a negative net margin of 12.52% and a negative return on equity of 315.23%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lifecore Biomedical will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LFCR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Lifecore Biomedical from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Lifecore Biomedical in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Lifecore Biomedical

In other news, CEO Paul Josephs purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.74 per share, for a total transaction of $97,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,717 shares in the company, valued at $3,212,775.58. This represents a 3.13 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lifecore Biomedical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lifecore Biomedical in the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Lifecore Biomedical during the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Lifecore Biomedical during the 3rd quarter worth $119,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Lifecore Biomedical by 1,668.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 25,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.36% of the company’s stock.

About Lifecore Biomedical

Lifecore Biomedical, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated contract development and manufacturing organization in the United States and internationally. The company engages in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade sodium hyaluronate (HA) in bulk form, as well as formulated and filled syringes and vials for injectable products used in treating a range of medical conditions and procedures.