BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. (NYSE:BSIG) Short Interest Up 6.9% in December

BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. (NYSE:BSIG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the November 30th total of 1,440,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 209,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BSIG. StockNews.com raised BrightSphere Investment Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of BrightSphere Investment Group in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on BrightSphere Investment Group from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BrightSphere Investment Group from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of BrightSphere Investment Group from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

BrightSphere Investment Group Trading Down 0.1 %

BSIG stock opened at $26.34 on Thursday. BrightSphere Investment Group has a twelve month low of $18.09 and a twelve month high of $31.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.74. The company has a market capitalization of $982.96 million, a P/E ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 1.45.

BrightSphere Investment Group (NYSE:BSIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $123.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.95 million. BrightSphere Investment Group had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 7,606.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BrightSphere Investment Group will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

BrightSphere Investment Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. BrightSphere Investment Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of BrightSphere Investment Group by 17.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 264,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,723,000 after purchasing an additional 39,312 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BrightSphere Investment Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 25,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in BrightSphere Investment Group during the 3rd quarter worth $238,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of BrightSphere Investment Group by 180.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 66,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 42,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BrightSphere Investment Group during the third quarter valued at $458,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.69% of the company’s stock.

About BrightSphere Investment Group

BrightSphere Investment Group Inc is a publically owned asset management holding company. The firm provides its services to individuals and institutions. It manages separate client focused portfolios through its subsidiaries. The firm also launches equity mutual funds for its clients. It invests in public equity, fixed income, and alternative investment markets through its subsidiaries.