Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) Short Interest Up 19.6% in February

Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 977,600 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 817,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 345,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Gladstone Land Price Performance

NASDAQ:LAND traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.67. 155,668 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,047. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Gladstone Land has a 1 year low of $10.27 and a 1 year high of $15.36. The company has a market cap of $422.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.24.

Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.19. Gladstone Land had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 1.89%. The firm had revenue of $21.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.45 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gladstone Land will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Land Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th were paid a dividend of $0.0467 per share. This is an increase from Gladstone Land’s previous dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a yield of 5.33%. Gladstone Land’s dividend payout ratio is presently -193.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LAND. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gladstone Land from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Alliance Global Partners downgraded shares of Gladstone Land from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $14.50 in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gladstone Land

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gladstone Land by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 905,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,828,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Gladstone Land by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 795,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,061,000 after buying an additional 16,079 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Gladstone Land by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 458,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after buying an additional 30,322 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Gladstone Land by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 251,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,501,000 after acquiring an additional 9,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 245,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 114,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.60% of the company’s stock.

Gladstone Land Company Profile

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion.