Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ:SVC) Short Interest Down 25.4% in March

Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ:SVC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,300,000 shares, a decline of 25.4% from the February 28th total of 7,100,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Properties Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Service Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth $20,553,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Service Properties Trust in the 4th quarter worth $6,900,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Service Properties Trust by 2,999.1% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,518,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437,613 shares during the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC increased its stake in Service Properties Trust by 234.8% in the fourth quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 2,144,899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504,297 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Service Properties Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $3,593,000. 77.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Service Properties Trust Price Performance

NASDAQ SVC opened at $2.63 on Friday. Service Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $2.29 and a fifty-two week high of $6.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.13. The firm has a market cap of $438.26 million, a P/E ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.32, a current ratio of 0.03 and a quick ratio of 0.03.

Service Properties Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. Service Properties Trust’s payout ratio is -2.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Service Properties Trust from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $2.50 to $4.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

Service Properties Trust Company Profile

Service Properties Trust (Nasdaq: SVC) is a real estate investment trust with over $11 billion invested in two asset categories: hotels and service-focused retail net lease properties. As of December 31, 2023, SVC owned 221 hotels with over 37,000 guest rooms throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico and Canada, the majority of which are extended stay and select service.