Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) Short Interest Down 17.9% in March

Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,890,000 shares, a drop of 17.9% from the February 28th total of 13,260,000 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Cushman & Wakefield Stock Performance

Shares of CWK stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $9.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 354,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,755. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.97 and a 200-day moving average of $13.07. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.40. Cushman & Wakefield has a 52 week low of $9.24 and a 52 week high of $16.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Cushman & Wakefield had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 1.39%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cushman & Wakefield will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Cushman & Wakefield from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Cushman & Wakefield from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Cushman & Wakefield from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cushman & Wakefield from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cushman & Wakefield

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cushman & Wakefield by 264.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 820.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,431 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Cushman & Wakefield in the 4th quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 143.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.56% of the company’s stock.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield Plc engages in the provision of commercial real estate services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC). The Americas segment consists of operations located in the United States, Canada and key markets in Latin America.