Short Interest in VerifyMe, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) Expands By 468.7%

VerifyMe, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,619,489 shares, an increase of 468.7% from the December 31st total of 284,761 shares. Approximately 16.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 20,842,289 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 20,842,289 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Approximately 16.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

VerifyMe Stock Performance

Shares of VRME stock opened at $1.22 on Thursday. VerifyMe has a 52 week low of $0.55 and a 52 week high of $1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $15.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $0.90.

VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. VerifyMe had a negative net margin of 21.78% and a negative return on equity of 11.64%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that VerifyMe will post -0.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRME. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of VerifyMe by 235.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 35,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 24,793 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in VerifyMe during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Centurion Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in VerifyMe in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in VerifyMe in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 8.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of VerifyMe in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of VerifyMe from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of VerifyMe from $1.00 to $1.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of VerifyMe to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, VerifyMe currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1.50.

About VerifyMe

VerifyMe, Inc (NASDAQ: VRME) provides authentication and brand protection solutions to help companies secure products, packaging and digital credentials against counterfeiting, diversion and tampering. The company’s offerings combine physical authentication technologies—such as secure printing, invisible inks, RFID/NFC tags and direct part marking—with cloud-based software to create end-to-end track-and-trace capabilities. These integrated solutions enable customers to verify authenticity at every stage of the supply chain, from manufacturing through distribution and retail.

Key product lines include on-demand secure printers and customized label materials, embedded secure elements for item-level tagging, and a centralized data management platform that supports real-time analytics, consumer engagement and regulatory compliance.