Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,622,699 shares, a growth of 29.5% from the December 31st total of 1,252,766 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 714,687 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 714,687 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Alexander & Baldwin in the fourth quarter worth $517,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alexander & Baldwin in the 4th quarter worth about $418,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Alexander & Baldwin by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 137,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 22,672 shares in the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC bought a new position in Alexander & Baldwin in the 4th quarter worth about $320,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Alexander & Baldwin during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.29% of the company’s stock.

Alexander & Baldwin Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Alexander & Baldwin stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 672,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,045. Alexander & Baldwin has a 52 week low of $15.07 and a 52 week high of $21.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.08). Alexander & Baldwin had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 33.62%.The business had revenue of $50.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.69 million. Equities research analysts predict that Alexander & Baldwin will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 19th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 19th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Alexander & Baldwin’s payout ratio is presently 138.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alexander & Baldwin from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Alexander & Baldwin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $20.85 price target on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Alexander & Baldwin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners cut Alexander & Baldwin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alexander & Baldwin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.95.

About Alexander & Baldwin

Founded in 1870 by Samuel T. Alexander and Henry P. Baldwin as a sugarcane plantation on Maui, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc (NYSE: ALEX) today operates as a Hawai‘i-focused real estate investment trust headquartered in Honolulu. The company transitioned from its agricultural origins into a diversified real estate owner, operator and developer, completing its conversion to a REIT structure in late 2019 to align its corporate governance with its core property portfolio.

Alexander & Baldwin’s commercial real estate arm spans office, retail, industrial and hospitality properties across the four major Hawaiian Islands.