Short Interest in The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) Decreases By 13.0%

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 735,400 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the April 30th total of 845,100 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 263,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

St. Joe Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of JOE opened at $45.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. St. Joe has a 12 month low of $40.19 and a 12 month high of $64.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18 and a beta of 1.37.

St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $94.20 million for the quarter. St. Joe had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 17.76%.

St. Joe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. St. Joe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised St. Joe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other St. Joe news, major shareholder Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 160,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total transaction of $7,534,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,000,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,034,028. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,900 shares of company stock valued at $12,178,856. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On St. Joe

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of St. Joe during the first quarter worth approximately $315,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of St. Joe by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 8,235 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of St. Joe by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 87,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,113,000 after acquiring an additional 19,879 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 8.3% in the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA lifted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 69.3% in the first quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 8,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655 shares in the last quarter. 86.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

St. Joe Company Profile

The St. Joe Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development, asset management, and operating company in Northwest Florida. It operates through three segments: Residential, Hospitality, and Commercial. The Residential segment engages in the development of communities into homesites for sale to homebuilders and on a limited basis to retail customers.