Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ:EMBC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 4,703,024 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the February 12th total of 4,034,174 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 773,618 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days. Currently, 8.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 8.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 773,618 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Embecta Stock Up 1.2%

EMBC opened at $8.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.52. Embecta has a 52 week low of $8.77 and a 52 week high of $15.55. The stock has a market cap of $528.78 million, a PE ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.10.

Embecta (NASDAQ:EMBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $261.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.07 million. Embecta had a negative return on equity of 26.66% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Embecta has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Embecta will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Embecta Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Embecta’s payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Embecta by 36.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,195,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382,537 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Embecta by 134.3% in the second quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,342,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,011,000 after acquiring an additional 769,713 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Embecta by 439.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 709,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,878,000 after acquiring an additional 578,174 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Embecta during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,178,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Embecta by 200.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 630,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,496,000 after purchasing an additional 421,254 shares during the period. 93.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Embecta in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Embecta from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Embecta in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

About Embecta

Embecta Corp (NASDAQ: EMBC) is a pure-play diabetes care company that was spun off from Becton, Dickinson and Company on July 1, 2021. Headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Embecta focuses exclusively on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of products that enable insulin delivery and blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes.

The company’s product portfolio includes insulin infusion sets, durable and patch pumps, pen needles, infusion tubing, blood glucose test strips, lancets and lancing devices.