Short Interest in Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE) Declines By 14.4%

Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,320,000 shares, a drop of 14.4% from the December 15th total of 3,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 407,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.1 days. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Safehold Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:SAFE traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $17.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 566,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,678. Safehold has a twelve month low of $15.55 and a twelve month high of $28.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 37.83 and a quick ratio of 37.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 1.67.

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $90.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.45 million. Safehold had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 32.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Safehold will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Safehold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.177 dividend. This represents a $0.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Safehold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.76%.

Institutional Trading of Safehold

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAFE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Safehold by 16.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 662,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,369,000 after acquiring an additional 91,965 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Safehold in the third quarter valued at $639,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Safehold by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 687,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,039,000 after purchasing an additional 39,320 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Safehold by 317.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 85,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,254,000 after buying an additional 65,370 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Safehold by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,247,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,734,000 after buying an additional 38,074 shares in the last quarter. 70.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SAFE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Safehold from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Safehold from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upgraded Safehold from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Safehold in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Safehold in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk.