Short Interest in SmartRent, Inc. (NYSE:SMRT) Expands By 130.9%

SmartRent, Inc. (NYSE:SMRT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,384,341 shares, an increase of 130.9% from the June 15th total of 2,765,204 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,707,709 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SMRT shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SmartRent from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of SmartRent from $1.40 to $1.20 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SmartRent currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $1.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartRent

In other SmartRent news, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian acquired 75,000 shares of SmartRent stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.11 per share, with a total value of $83,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 721,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $800,378.82. This represents a 11.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Frank Martell bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.18 per share, for a total transaction of $118,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,165,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,735,013.88. The trade was a 3.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders bought 295,260 shares of company stock worth $339,044. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartRent

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SmartRent by 245.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 973,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 692,268 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SmartRent in the first quarter valued at about $69,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of SmartRent by 81.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 634,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 285,478 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of SmartRent by 55.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 62,028 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SmartRent in the second quarter worth approximately $248,000. 59.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SmartRent Price Performance

SMRT stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $0.96. 2,116,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,753,680. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.74 million, a PE ratio of -7.37 and a beta of 1.51. SmartRent has a 52 week low of $0.90 and a 52 week high of $2.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.47.

SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02). SmartRent had a negative return on equity of 10.61% and a negative net margin of 16.58%.The business had revenue of $36.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.82 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that SmartRent will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SmartRent Company Profile

SmartRent Inc is a technology company that develops smart home and smart building automation solutions for the residential rental housing industry. Its integrated hardware and software platform enables property managers and owners to remotely monitor, manage and control access, energy use and overall resident experience. The company’s product portfolio includes smart locks, thermostats, leak and flood sensors, door and window sensors, security cameras, and a centralized management dashboard that interfaces with leading property management systems.

SmartRent’s platform is designed to streamline operations for multifamily communities and single-family rental portfolios by automating routine tasks such as digital resident self-showings, remote lease turnovers, package management and preventative maintenance alerts.