Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ALEX. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of 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 Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALEX opened at $17.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 1.27. Alexander & Baldwin has a 1 year low of $15.53 and a 1 year high of $20.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.52.

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

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Alexander & Baldwin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Alexander & Baldwin by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 94,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 35,916 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,151,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alexander & Baldwin by 3.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 965,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,536,000 after acquiring an additional 29,006 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alexander & Baldwin by 284.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alexander & Baldwin by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,876,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,032,000 after purchasing an additional 23,441 shares during the period. 91.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alexander & Baldwin

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.