City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE:CIO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE:CIO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 327,300 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the June 30th total of 363,100 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 169,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On City Office REIT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of City Office REIT by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 166,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 18,201 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in City Office REIT by 2,225.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 5,052 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of City Office REIT in the first quarter worth approximately $98,000. EMC Capital Management increased its stake in shares of City Office REIT by 10.3% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 21,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of City Office REIT during the 1st quarter valued at $153,000. 67.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

City Office REIT Stock Performance

NYSE:CIO traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5.70. The company had a trading volume of 380,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,715. The firm has a market cap of $228.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.18, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.93. City Office REIT has a 52 week low of $3.45 and a 52 week high of $6.70.

City Office REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. City Office REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -142.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised City Office REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th.

City Office REIT Company Profile

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.