City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE:CIO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE:CIO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 361,300 shares, a growth of 31.2% from the October 31st total of 275,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 250,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On City Office REIT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in City Office REIT by 42.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 245,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 73,736 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of City Office REIT by 237.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 43,562 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of City Office REIT by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 205,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 38,285 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of City Office REIT during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in City Office REIT in the 1st quarter valued at $153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.47% of the company’s stock.

City Office REIT Stock Up 1.4 %

City Office REIT stock opened at $5.80 on Monday. City Office REIT has a 52 week low of $4.02 and a 52 week high of $6.70. The firm has a market cap of $232.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.36). City Office REIT had a negative net margin of 5.56% and a negative return on equity of 1.48%. The firm had revenue of $42.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that City Office REIT will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

City Office REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. City Office REIT’s payout ratio is currently -95.24%.

About City Office REIT

City Office REIT is an internally-managed real estate company focused on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality office properties located predominantly in Sun Belt markets. City Office currently owns or has a controlling interest in 5.7 million square feet of office properties. The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S.