CTO Realty Growth, Inc. (NYSE:CTO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. (NYSE:CTO - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,720,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the January 31st total of 1,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 369,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CTO. StockNews.com lowered CTO Realty Growth from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $22.50) on shares of CTO Realty Growth in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CTO Realty Growth presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.50.

CTO Realty Growth Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CTO traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $19.24. 463,622 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 308,820. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.54. The company has a quick ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $612.50 million, a PE ratio of -87.43 and a beta of 0.77. CTO Realty Growth has a 52 week low of $16.33 and a 52 week high of $21.15.

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CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $35.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.39 million. CTO Realty Growth had a negative net margin of 1.58% and a negative return on equity of 0.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that CTO Realty Growth will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

CTO Realty Growth Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.90%. CTO Realty Growth's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -690.91%.

Institutional Trading of CTO Realty Growth

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CTO Realty Growth by 118.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,514,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,566,000 after buying an additional 1,364,637 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in CTO Realty Growth by 681.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 468,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,235,000 after acquiring an additional 408,632 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CTO Realty Growth in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,500,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of CTO Realty Growth during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,485,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in CTO Realty Growth during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,673,000. Institutional investors own 67.18% of the company's stock.

About CTO Realty Growth

CTO Realty Growth, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc NYSE: PINE, a publicly traded net lease REIT.