Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) saw a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 654,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the June 30th total of 617,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 166,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Gladstone Land Stock Performance

Shares of LAND opened at $14.52 on Friday. Gladstone Land has a one year low of $12.31 and a one year high of $17.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.47. The stock has a market cap of $520.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 242.00, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 6.14.

Gladstone Land Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a $0.0467 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. Gladstone Land’s payout ratio is 933.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 250.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 3,910.3% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the first quarter worth approximately $138,000. M&G Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the first quarter worth approximately $149,000. 53.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LAND. Maxim Group reduced their price objective on shares of Gladstone Land from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Alliance Global Partners began coverage on shares of Gladstone Land in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Gladstone Land from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Gladstone Land Company Profile

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion.