Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,023,048 shares, a drop of 23.3% from the March 15th total of 2,637,763 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,661,439 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Honda Motor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Honda Motor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Honda Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Honda Motor from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Honda Motor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honda Motor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Honda Motor by 189.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 344,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,596,000 after acquiring an additional 225,140 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Honda Motor by 28.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 512,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,771,000 after purchasing an additional 113,347 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Honda Motor during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,891,000. Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in Honda Motor by 1.4% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,274,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,047,000 after purchasing an additional 30,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Honda Motor during the second quarter valued at approximately $261,000. 5.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Honda Motor Price Performance

HMC stock opened at $24.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day moving average of $29.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Honda Motor has a 12 month low of $23.25 and a 12 month high of $34.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.43.

Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.24. Honda Motor had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $29.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.34 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Honda Motor will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Honda Motor Company Profile

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. is a global manufacturer and mobility company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa. The company’s core businesses include the design, manufacture and sale of automobiles and motorcycles, along with a diverse portfolio of power products, engines and related components. Honda also operates in aviation through Honda Aircraft Company and offers financial services that support vehicle sales and leasing.

In automobiles, Honda is known for a range of passenger cars, crossovers and light trucks, and in motorcycles it is one of the world’s leading producers by volume and model breadth.