Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) Short Interest Update

Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 977,600 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 817,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 345,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gladstone Land

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gladstone Land by 224.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Gladstone Land during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the third quarter valued at $50,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Gladstone Land by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the period. 53.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gladstone Land Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAND traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $11.67. 148,675 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,740. Gladstone Land has a fifty-two week low of $10.27 and a fifty-two week high of $15.36. The firm has a market cap of $422.10 million, a PE ratio of -40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

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Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.19. Gladstone Land had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 15.59%. The company had revenue of $21.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.45 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gladstone Land will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Land Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th were paid a dividend of $0.0467 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Gladstone Land's previous dividend of $0.04. This represents a yield of 5.33%. Gladstone Land's dividend payout ratio is currently -193.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Gladstone Land from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

Gladstone Land Company Profile

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion.