Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALEX) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 759,894 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the previous session’s volume of 487,073 shares.The stock last traded at $20.9150 and had previously closed at $20.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALEX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut Alexander & Baldwin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Alexander & Baldwin in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Alexander & Baldwin Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.08). Alexander & Baldwin had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 33.62%.The company had revenue of $50.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.69 million. Analysts forecast that Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Alexander & Baldwin Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 19th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Alexander & Baldwin’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 19th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Alexander & Baldwin’s dividend payout ratio is 89.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALEX. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 33.1% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,517,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,886,000 after purchasing an additional 626,289 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin in the first quarter valued at $8,116,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Alexander & Baldwin by 288.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 509,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 377,948 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alexander & Baldwin in the second quarter worth about $6,359,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alexander & Baldwin by 81.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 737,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 331,969 shares during the last quarter. 91.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alexander & Baldwin Company Profile

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.