Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Expands By 5.9%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,040,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the September 15th total of 16,090,000 shares. Approximately 8.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days.

The Carlyle Group Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CG opened at $51.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.93. The Carlyle Group has a 52-week low of $27.13 and a 52-week high of $51.40.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $808.73 million. The Carlyle Group had a negative net margin of 11.67% and a positive return on equity of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 131.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Carlyle Group will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is -78.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on The Carlyle Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.27.

Insider Transactions at The Carlyle Group

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 135,241 shares of The Carlyle Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total value of $4,775,359.71. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,427,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $368,188,563.27. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,818,699 shares of company stock valued at $48,506,781. 27.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the first quarter worth $142,511,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the first quarter worth $109,122,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,876,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,189 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 17,468.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,715,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,009,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Company Profile

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.