Kilroy Realty Co. (NYSE:KRC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Kilroy Realty Co. (NYSE:KRC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,710,000 shares, an increase of 8.3% from the January 15th total of 7,120,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Insider Activity at Kilroy Realty

In other Kilroy Realty news, insider Heidi Rena Roth sold 12,000 shares of Kilroy Realty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $507,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,122,921.08. This trade represents a 19.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kilroy Realty in the fourth quarter worth about $366,356,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Kilroy Realty by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,862,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $196,680,000 after buying an additional 218,163 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Kilroy Realty by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 4,487,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $181,526,000 after purchasing an additional 500,635 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kilroy Realty by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,265,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,087,000 after purchasing an additional 193,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kilroy Realty by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,003,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,509,000 after purchasing an additional 680,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kilroy Realty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Kilroy Realty in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank downgraded Kilroy Realty from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Kilroy Realty from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kilroy Realty from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.20.

Kilroy Realty Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KRC traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 154,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,434. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Kilroy Realty has a 1 year low of $30.71 and a 1 year high of $43.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.43.

Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.17. Kilroy Realty had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 17.78%. Research analysts forecast that Kilroy Realty will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Kilroy Realty Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Kilroy Realty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.34%.

About Kilroy Realty

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design.