Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Alexander & Baldwin from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Alexander & Baldwin Price Performance

Shares of Alexander & Baldwin stock opened at $18.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.72 and a 200 day moving average of $18.60. Alexander & Baldwin has a 12 month low of $15.53 and a 12 month high of $20.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $62.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.68 million. Alexander & Baldwin had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 19.64%. On average, research analysts expect that Alexander & Baldwin will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This is a positive change from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Alexander & Baldwin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alexander & Baldwin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 284.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alexander & Baldwin by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Alexander & Baldwin by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Alexander & Baldwin during the 3rd quarter worth $79,000. 91.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alexander & Baldwin Company Profile

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Commercial Real Estate and Land Operations segments. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes investments and acquisitions, construction and development, and in-house leasing and property management. The Land Operations segment consists of legacy landholdings, assets, and liabilities subject to the company’s simplification and monetization effort.