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

City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE:CIO) saw a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 274,500 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the September 15th total of 294,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 187,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

City Office REIT Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE CIO opened at $5.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. City Office REIT has a twelve month low of $3.45 and a twelve month high of $6.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.70 million, a PE ratio of -20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.79 and its 200 day moving average is $5.28.

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.41). City Office REIT had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 1.07%. The firm had revenue of $42.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that City Office REIT will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

City Office REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. City Office REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -142.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On City Office REIT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in City Office REIT by 69.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 16,874 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in City Office REIT in the first quarter worth $63,000. Callan Capital LLC bought a new stake in City Office REIT in the first quarter worth $138,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in City Office REIT by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,935,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,504,000 after acquiring an additional 29,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of City Office REIT by 44.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 52,787 shares during the last quarter. 67.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.