StockNews.com Upgrades City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) to “Hold”

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

City Office REIT Stock Down 3.5 %

CIO stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.83. The company had a trading volume of 375,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,987. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. City Office REIT has a fifty-two week low of $3.45 and a fifty-two week high of $7.12. The company has a market capitalization of $193.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.83.

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.42). The company had revenue of $44.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.47 million. City Office REIT had a negative net margin of 1.50% and a negative return on equity of 0.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that City Office REIT will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at City Office REIT

In other City Office REIT news, Director Michael Mazan acquired 39,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.22 per share, with a total value of $164,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,580. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in City Office REIT by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,913,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,633,000 after acquiring an additional 40,432 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in City Office REIT by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,267,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,197,000 after buying an additional 42,369 shares during the period. Newtyn Management LLC grew its holdings in City Office REIT by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 3,203,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,572,000 after buying an additional 23,242 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of City Office REIT by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,191,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,703,000 after acquiring an additional 5,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of City Office REIT by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,695,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,206,000 after acquiring an additional 46,800 shares during the period. 70.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.