Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KW) Short Interest Up 19.4% in March

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,933,324 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the March 15th total of 3,295,165 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,216,058 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on KW shares. Weiss Ratings raised Kennedy-Wilson from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Kennedy-Wilson in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $11.00.

Kennedy-Wilson Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of KW stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.90. 726,339 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,659. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.75. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.57 and a beta of 0.93. Kennedy-Wilson has a 1-year low of $5.98 and a 1-year high of $10.99.

Kennedy-Wilson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Kennedy-Wilson’s payout ratio is currently -165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennedy-Wilson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Kennedy-Wilson by 506.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 61,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 51,522 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Kennedy-Wilson by 11.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,183,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,844,000 after buying an additional 124,492 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kennedy-Wilson by 20.8% in the third quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 877,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,300,000 after buying an additional 150,950 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kennedy-Wilson by 916.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,765,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,601,000 after buying an additional 2,493,628 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Kennedy-Wilson by 7.3% in the third quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 2,845,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,671,000 after buying an additional 194,755 shares during the period. 87.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kennedy-Wilson Company Profile

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc is a publicly traded global real estate investment company that acquires, develops and manages a diversified portfolio of properties. Its core activities include investing in office, multifamily, retail, industrial and self-storage assets while providing comprehensive property management, leasing, capital markets and investment management services to institutional and private clients.

Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Kennedy-Wilson operates through two principal business segments: Investments and Asset Services.