Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,350,000 shares, a growth of 31.8% from the February 28th total of 4,060,000 shares. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 768,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Four Corners Property Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCPT. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Four Corners Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $38,512,000. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Four Corners Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $24,863,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Four Corners Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,084,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Four Corners Property Trust by 539.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 687,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,145,000 after buying an additional 579,849 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Four Corners Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $12,845,000. 98.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on FCPT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Four Corners Property Trust from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Four Corners Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Four Corners Property Trust from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Four Corners Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.20.

Four Corners Property Trust Stock Performance

FCPT traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.70. 1,260,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,114. Four Corners Property Trust has a 52 week low of $22.38 and a 52 week high of $30.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.13 and a 200 day moving average of $28.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.16.

Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.16. Four Corners Property Trust had a net margin of 37.48% and a return on equity of 7.54%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Four Corners Property Trust will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Four Corners Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. Four Corners Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.71%.

About Four Corners Property Trust

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc engages in the owning, acquisition, and leasing of properties for use in the restaurant and food-service related industries. It operates through the Real Estate Operations and Restaurant Operations segments. The Real Estate Operations segment consists of rental revenues generated by leasing restaurant properties.