SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SLG. UBS Group set a $61.00 price target on shares of SL Green Realty in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of SL Green Realty in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on SL Green Realty from $66.00 to $61.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. New Street Research set a $72.00 target price on SL Green Realty in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on SL Green Realty from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.94.

SL Green Realty Price Performance

Shares of SL Green Realty stock opened at $48.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 4,811.21 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.87. SL Green Realty has a 12 month low of $40.26 and a 12 month high of $68.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22.

SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.24. SL Green Realty had a negative return on equity of 0.22% and a net margin of 1.75%.The firm had revenue of $244.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that SL Green Realty will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SL Green Realty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.2575 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. SL Green Realty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30,900.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Holliday sold 22,223 shares of SL Green Realty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $986,701.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,591.20. The trade was a 69.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew S. Levine sold 1,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.27, for a total transaction of $67,588.11. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,927.15. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 5.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SL Green Realty

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of SL Green Realty by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,257,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $264,636,000 after buying an additional 41,873 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SL Green Realty by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,833,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,518,000 after purchasing an additional 6,690 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SL Green Realty by 104.1% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,622,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,439,000 after purchasing an additional 827,407 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in SL Green Realty by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,543,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,346,000 after buying an additional 54,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its position in SL Green Realty by 51.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 1,460,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,345,000 after buying an additional 497,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.96% of the company’s stock.

SL Green Realty Company Profile

SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on the acquisition, management and development of commercial office properties in Manhattan. As one of New York City’s largest office landlords, the company’s portfolio includes Class A office buildings and mixed-use projects located in prime Midtown and Downtown submarkets. SL Green generates revenue through leasing office space to a diverse mix of tenants spanning financial services, technology, media and professional services firms.

Founded in 1980 by real estate investor Stephen L.