Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG)

SL Green Realty Corporation (NYSE:SLG) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 11,231 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 465% compared to the typical volume of 1,988 put options.

SL Green Realty Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of SL Green Realty stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Monday, hitting $44.93. 151,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 4,496.60 and a beta of 1.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.66. SL Green Realty has a 1-year low of $42.92 and a 1-year high of $80.90.

SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.24. SL Green Realty had a net margin of 1.75% and a negative return on equity of 0.22%. The business had revenue of $244.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. SL Green Realty’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SL Green Realty will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SL Green Realty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. SL Green Realty’s payout ratio is 30,900.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carol N. Brown sold 937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $59,115.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of SL Green Realty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in SL Green Realty by 117.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after acquiring an additional 23,457 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SL Green Realty by 134.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 35,565 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of SL Green Realty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $947,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of SL Green Realty by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in SL Green Realty by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 44,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of SL Green Realty from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of SL Green Realty in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays set a $59.00 price objective on SL Green Realty in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank set a $66.00 target price on SL Green Realty and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SL Green Realty from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SL Green Realty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.33.

About SL Green Realty

3SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office landlord, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2022, SL Green held interests in 64 buildings totaling 34.4 million square feet.