Traders Purchase Large Volume of SL Green Realty Put Options (NYSE:SLG)

SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE:SLG – Get Rating) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 44,481 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,555% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,688 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SL Green Realty from $36.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of SL Green Realty in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SL Green Realty from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of SL Green Realty from $88.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of SL Green Realty from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.31.

SL Green Realty Trading Down 10.3 %

SLG stock opened at $23.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. SL Green Realty has a 52-week low of $23.15 and a 52-week high of $83.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.82 and a beta of 1.52.

SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The real estate investment trust reported ($1.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($2.49). SL Green Realty had a negative return on equity of 1.62% and a negative net margin of 9.44%. The firm had revenue of $197.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SL Green Realty will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SL Green Realty Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2708 per share. This represents a $3.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 27th. SL Green Realty’s payout ratio is currently -218.12%.

Insider Transactions at SL Green Realty

In other news, Director Craig M. Hatkoff sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $308,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,404.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SL Green Realty

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLG. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of SL Green Realty by 455.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,305,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,944 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SL Green Realty during the 4th quarter worth about $24,417,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of SL Green Realty by 53.2% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,941,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,976,000 after purchasing an additional 674,516 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in shares of SL Green Realty during the 3rd quarter worth about $19,681,000. Finally, Natixis acquired a new position in shares of SL Green Realty during the 4th quarter worth about $15,655,000. 82.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SL Green Realty

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3SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office landlord, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2022, SL Green held interests in 64 buildings totaling 34.4 million square feet.