Centerspace (NYSE:CSR) Short Interest Up 509.0% in August

Centerspace (NYSE:CSR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 794,800 shares, a growth of 509.0% from the August 15th total of 130,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 138,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Centerspace

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Centerspace by 3.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Centerspace by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 13,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centerspace by 4.9% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centerspace by 2.6% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Centerspace by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Centerspace from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Centerspace from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Centerspace from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Centerspace from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.29.

Centerspace Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CSR traded up $2.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.50. The company had a trading volume of 101,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,950. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.90. Centerspace has a 1 year low of $46.74 and a 1 year high of $76.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Centerspace (NYSE:CSR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($1.39). The company had revenue of $65.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.90 million. Centerspace had a negative return on equity of 0.67% and a negative net margin of 2.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Centerspace will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centerspace Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Centerspace’s dividend payout ratio is currently -375.00%.

About Centerspace

Centerspace is an owner and operator of apartment communities committed to providing great homes by focusing on integrity and serving others. Founded in 1970, as of September 30, 2023, Centerspace owned interests in 71 apartment communities consisting of 12,785 apartment homes located in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.