Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 492,048 Shares of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,838,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 492,048 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 3.91% of Alexander & Baldwin worth $50,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Alexander & Baldwin by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 177,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,145,000 after purchasing an additional 81,811 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 614,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,909,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alexander & Baldwin by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 94,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,668,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alexander & Baldwin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $683,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alexander & Baldwin during the 4th quarter valued at $5,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALEX. StockNews.com cut Alexander & Baldwin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alexander & Baldwin from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Alexander & Baldwin Stock Down 3.6 %

ALEX opened at $16.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65 and a beta of 1.27. Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. has a one year low of $15.53 and a one year high of $20.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 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 business had revenue of $62.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.68 million. Equities research analysts expect that Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.225 dividend. This is an increase from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Alexander & Baldwin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.14%.

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.