Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in St. Joe Company (The) $JOE

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in St. Joe Company (The) (NYSE:JOE) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in St. Joe were worth $16,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in St. Joe by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. HRT Financial LP grew its stake in shares of St. Joe by 0.7% during the second quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 32,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of St. Joe by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of St. Joe by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of St. Joe by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. 86.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

St. Joe Trading Down 0.2%

St. Joe stock opened at $60.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. St. Joe Company has a 12 month low of $46.37 and a 12 month high of $73.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26 and a beta of 1.29.

St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $99.04 million during the quarter. St. Joe had a net margin of 21.61% and a return on equity of 14.59%.

St. Joe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. St. Joe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 189,200 shares of St. Joe stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.78, for a total value of $12,445,576.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,884,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,877,410.72. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,000,000 shares of company stock worth $65,585,733. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of St. Joe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, St. Joe presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

St. Joe Profile

The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) is a leading real estate development and asset management firm focused on Northwest Florida. Headquartered in Jacksonville, the company owns and manages approximately 171,000 acres of land across Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Walton counties. St. Joe’s core businesses include residential community development, commercial real estate, and hospitality, with an emphasis on master-planned neighborhoods, office and retail campuses, resort hotels and mixed-use town centers.

Founded in 1936 as a paper manufacturing company, St.