Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) Cut to Sell at Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $45.00 price target on the stock.

PS has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pershing Square from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Pershing Square in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Pershing Square from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Pershing Square from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, JonesTrading lowered Pershing Square from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $42.56.

Pershing Square Stock Performance

Shares of PS stock opened at $54.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.11. The company has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 389.50. Pershing Square has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $60.40.

Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $68.03 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pershing Square will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Pershing Square Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 12th will be paid a $0.1030 dividend. This is a decrease from Pershing Square’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1220. This represents a $0.41 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Pershing Square’s dividend payout ratio is 292.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pershing Square during the 2nd quarter worth about $132,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter valued at about $302,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter valued at about $529,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter valued at about $775,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in Pershing Square during the second quarter worth about $822,000.

About Pershing Square

Pershing Square USA, Ltd. is a closed-end investment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PS. The company is designed to provide investors with long-term capital appreciation through a concentrated portfolio of investments in publicly traded businesses.

The fund is managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., an investment management firm founded and led by William A. Ackman. Its investment approach generally emphasizes detailed fundamental research, activist engagement when appropriate, and ownership of a limited number of companies that the manager believes have durable business models, strong management teams, and long-term growth potential.

Pershing Square USA primarily focuses on publicly traded companies in the United States and other developed markets, with investment decisions centered on individual business fundamentals rather than broad market exposure.