Short Interest in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Decreases By 6.7%

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,230,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the March 15th total of 2,390,000 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 488,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Denny’s Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Denny’s stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.29. 131,376 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 489,482. The stock has a market cap of $440.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.11 and its 200-day moving average is $9.54. Denny’s has a 52 week low of $8.11 and a 52 week high of $12.53.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). Denny’s had a net margin of 4.30% and a negative return on equity of 70.78%. The firm had revenue of $115.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. Denny’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Denny’s will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Denny’s

In related news, Director John C. Miller sold 35,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.25, for a total value of $327,070.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 740,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,850,790.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Denny’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DENN. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Denny’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its position in Denny’s by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Denny’s by 100.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Denny’s by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Denny’s by 126.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DENN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Denny’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on Denny’s from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Denny’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.92.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.