Kilroy Realty Co. (NYSE:KRC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Kilroy Realty in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kilroy Realty from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank cut shares of Kilroy Realty from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kilroy Realty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.80.

Kilroy Realty Price Performance

Shares of KRC stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.97. 1,081,931 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,014,502. Kilroy Realty has a fifty-two week low of $30.71 and a fifty-two week high of $43.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.94.

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

Kilroy Realty Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kilroy Realty

In other news, insider Heidi Rena Roth sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $507,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kilroy Realty

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Kilroy Realty by 1.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 26,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Kilroy Realty by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Kilroy Realty by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Kilroy Realty by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 11,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. 94.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kilroy Realty

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.