Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) Trading 8.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Pershing Square Inc. (NYSE:PS) shot up 8.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.61 and last traded at $42.42. Approximately 136,179 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 344,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Pershing Square from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pershing Square in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pershing Square from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Pershing Square from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Pershing Square to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pershing Square has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Pershing Square Stock Up 10.8%

The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.94.

Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $68.03 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pershing Square Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pershing Square Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a dividend of $0.122 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $0.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Pershing Square’s payout ratio is presently 350.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pershing Square

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pershing Square in the second quarter worth $302,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pershing Square during the 2nd quarter worth about $529,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter valued at about $775,000. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter valued at about $822,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Pershing Square during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,459,000.

About Pershing Square

Pershing Square (NYSE: PS) is a publicly traded investment holding company managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., the investment firm founded and led by William “Bill” Ackman. The vehicle provides outside investors with exposure to the firm’s concentrated, actively managed investment program and is designed to deliver long?term capital appreciation through a portfolio of equity and related positions.

The company’s principal activities center on investing in publicly traded companies, typically through concentrated long equity positions and selectively using derivatives or other instruments for hedging or to implement investment views.