Short Interest in Kilroy Realty Co. (NYSE:KRC) Expands By 28.1%

Kilroy Realty Co. (NYSE:KRC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,020,000 shares, a growth of 28.1% from the December 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Approximately 6.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Heidi Rena Roth sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $507,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,122,921.08. This represents a 19.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Kilroy Realty during the third quarter worth about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Kilroy Realty by 126.5% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Kilroy Realty by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Kilroy Realty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Kilroy Realty in the second quarter worth $55,000. 94.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KRC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kilroy Realty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Kilroy Realty from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kilroy Realty from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kilroy Realty from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kilroy Realty from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kilroy Realty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.80.

Kilroy Realty Stock Up 1.9 %

Kilroy Realty stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.97. 1,081,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,014,502. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.03 and a 200 day moving average of $37.94. Kilroy Realty has a 12-month low of $30.71 and a 12-month high of $43.78.

Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.60). Kilroy Realty had a return on equity of 3.53% and a net margin of 17.78%. The firm had revenue of $289.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Kilroy Realty will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kilroy Realty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.54%. Kilroy Realty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.34%.

Kilroy Realty Company Profile

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design.