Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE:AVNS) Short Interest Update

Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE:AVNS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,211,005 shares, a drop of 39.6% from the April 15th total of 2,004,529 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,609,614 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Avanos Medical Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE AVNS traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.73. The stock had a trading volume of 849,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,821. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -15.36 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.66. Avanos Medical has a twelve month low of $9.30 and a twelve month high of $24.91.

Avanos Medical (NYSE:AVNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. Avanos Medical had a positive return on equity of 5.39% and a negative net margin of 10.39%.The business had revenue of $182.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avanos Medical will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AVNS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avanos Medical from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Avanos Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Avanos Medical from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Avanos Medical presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avanos Medical

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Avanos Medical by 12.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 282,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,960,000 after purchasing an additional 30,954 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avanos Medical by 61.9% in the first quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 437,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,124,000 after buying an additional 167,085 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Avanos Medical in the first quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Avanos Medical by 121.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 167,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 92,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avanos Medical by 15.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.17% of the company’s stock.

Avanos Medical Company Profile

Avanos Medical is a global medical technology company that develops and markets a broad portfolio of medical devices intended to improve patient outcomes in hospital, outpatient and post-acute care settings. The company’s products focus on three core therapy areas—pain management, enteral feeding and respiratory care—designed to help clinicians manage post-operative pain, deliver nutrition support and assist breathing for patients across a variety of acute and chronic conditions.

In its pain management segment, Avanos offers both non-opioid drug delivery systems and cryoanalgesia devices, including ambulatory infusion pumps and cooled radiofrequency ablation platforms.