International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT) Short Interest Down 10.3% in December

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,740,000 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the November 30th total of 1,940,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 969,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Trading of International Game Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in International Game Technology by 49.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 291,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,212,000 after purchasing an additional 96,019 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in International Game Technology by 180.1% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 29,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 19,247 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in International Game Technology during the third quarter valued at $645,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in International Game Technology by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,103,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,800,000 after buying an additional 21,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in International Game Technology by 22.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 10,193 shares in the last quarter. 44.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded International Game Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

International Game Technology Stock Performance

Shares of IGT stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.66. The stock had a trading volume of 785,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,533. International Game Technology has a 1-year low of $16.83 and a 1-year high of $27.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.34 and its 200-day moving average is $20.53.

International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $587.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $591.50 million. International Game Technology had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 4.17%. International Game Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that International Game Technology will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

International Game Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. International Game Technology’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

About International Game Technology

International Game Technology PLC operates and provides gaming technology products and services in the United States, Canada, Italy, The United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Global Lottery, Global Gaming, and PlayDigital. The company designs, sells, operates, and leases a suite of point-of-sale machines that reconciles lottery funds between the retailer and lottery authority; provides online lottery transaction processing systems; produces instant ticket games; and offers printing services, such as instant ticket marketing plans and graphic design, programming, packaging, shipping, and delivery services, as well as iLottery solutions and services.