Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) Short Interest Up 21.2% in March

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 791,800 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the February 28th total of 653,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 431,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALEX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 284.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Alexander & Baldwin by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Alexander & Baldwin during the third quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alexander & Baldwin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 91.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alexander & Baldwin from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Alexander & Baldwin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 16th.

Alexander & Baldwin Stock Performance

ALEX stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.55. 247,913 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,762. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Alexander & Baldwin has a 52 week low of $15.53 and a 52 week high of $20.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 1.27.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $62.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.68 million. Alexander & Baldwin had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 19.64%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alexander & Baldwin will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Alexander & Baldwin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.14%.

About Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Commercial Real Estate and Land Operations segments. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes investments and acquisitions, construction and development, and in-house leasing and property management. The Land Operations segment consists of legacy landholdings, assets, and liabilities subject to the company’s simplification and monetization effort.