Southern Style Financial Inc. Takes $1.89 Million Position in Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND)

Southern Style Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 174,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,893,000. Gladstone Land accounts for 1.5% of Southern Style Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Gladstone Land by 8.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gladstone Land by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 7,848 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Land by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Gladstone Land by 52.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 7,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Gladstone Land by 41.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 3,572 shares during the period. 53.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gladstone Land Price Performance

LAND stock opened at $10.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.11 and a 200-day moving average of $12.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Gladstone Land Co. has a 12-month low of $10.27 and a 12-month high of $15.36.

Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $22.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.47 million. Gladstone Land had a return on equity of 2.05% and a net margin of 16.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Gladstone Land Co. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Gladstone Land Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.0467 dividend. This represents a yield of 5.33%. This is a boost from Gladstone Land’s previous dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Gladstone Land’s dividend payout ratio is presently -215.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Alliance Global Partners lowered shares of Gladstone Land from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $14.50 in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

About Gladstone Land

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.