Short Interest in The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) Expands By 17.7%

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 621,700 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the September 15th total of 528,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 165,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other St. Joe news, Director Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 28,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.98, for a total transaction of $1,769,738.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,172,524 shares in the company, valued at $1,144,505,561.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 97,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total value of $5,865,048.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,878,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,078,814,274.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 28,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.98, for a total value of $1,769,738.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,172,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,144,505,561.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 285,000 shares of company stock worth $17,558,573 in the last 90 days. 38.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On St. Joe

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in St. Joe by 7.4% in the first quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of St. Joe by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 6,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in St. Joe by 5.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 196,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,363,000 after acquiring an additional 10,943 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in St. Joe by 54.9% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of St. Joe by 14.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

St. Joe Trading Up 1.2 %

JOE stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 136,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,846. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.63 and a beta of 1.26. St. Joe has a 1 year low of $45.93 and a 1 year high of $64.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.49.

St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. St. Joe had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $111.60 million during the quarter.

St. Joe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from St. Joe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. St. Joe’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

About St. Joe

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.