Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) Short Interest Up 9.0% in October

Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,220,000 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the October 15th total of 4,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kite Realty Group Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Kite Realty Group Trust by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,107,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $292,827,000 after buying an additional 4,182,590 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust by 12.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,531,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $722,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,818,524 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in the fourth quarter worth $44,198,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Kite Realty Group Trust by 15.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,205,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $300,695,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,009 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in Kite Realty Group Trust by 16.6% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,943,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,585 shares during the period. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Kite Realty Group Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Raymond James cut shares of Kite Realty Group Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Kite Realty Group Trust from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kite Realty Group Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.57.

Kite Realty Group Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KRG traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.67. 2,058,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,548,254. Kite Realty Group Trust has a one year low of $18.77 and a one year high of $24.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.21 and its 200 day moving average is $21.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.41.

Kite Realty Group Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. This is a boost from Kite Realty Group Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 4th. Kite Realty Group Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 564.71%.

Kite Realty Group Trust Company Profile

Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Indianapolis, IN that is one of the largest publicly traded owners and operators of open-air shopping centers and mixed-use assets. The Company's primarily grocery-anchored portfolio is located in high-growth Sun Belt and select strategic gateway markets.