City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

City Office REIT Stock Performance

Shares of CIO opened at $4.63 on Thursday. City Office REIT has a 1 year low of $3.45 and a 1 year high of $6.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 3.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.85. The company has a market capitalization of $185.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.52, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.84.

City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.42). City Office REIT had a negative return on equity of 0.40% and a negative net margin of 1.50%. The company had revenue of $44.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that City Office REIT will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at City Office REIT

In other news, Director Michael Mazan bought 39,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.22 per share, for a total transaction of $164,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,580. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of City Office REIT by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,059,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 447,484 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of City Office REIT by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 101,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 12,773 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of City Office REIT in the 3rd quarter worth about $98,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of City Office REIT by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,695,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,206,000 after acquiring an additional 46,800 shares during the period. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of City Office REIT by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 36,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640 shares during the period. 67.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About City Office REIT

City Office REIT is an internally-managed real estate company focused on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality office properties located predominantly in Sun Belt markets. City Office currently owns or has a controlling interest in 5.7 million square feet of office properties. The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S.