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 during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 768,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days. Approximately 5.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCPT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Four Corners Property Trust by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,518,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,495,000 after buying an additional 63,856 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Four Corners Property Trust by 21.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 201,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 35,059 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Four Corners Property Trust by 19.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Four Corners Property Trust by 1,867.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 228,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 217,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Four Corners Property Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 78,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on FCPT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Four Corners Property Trust from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Four Corners Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.20.

Four Corners Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FCPT traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $28.70. 1,260,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,114. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.16. Four Corners Property Trust has a 12-month low of $22.38 and a 12-month high of $30.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Four Corners Property Trust will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Four Corners Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Four Corners Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.