The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,620,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the October 31st total of 9,790,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised The Carlyle Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of The Carlyle Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CG traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 326,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,356,619. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 180.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.73 and a 200 day moving average of $44.54. The Carlyle Group has a one year low of $34.72 and a one year high of $55.11.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $895.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.17 million. The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Analysts expect that The Carlyle Group will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 482.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Carlyle Group

In related news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 924,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total transaction of $1,978,357.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,643,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,796,514.34. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $25,535,279.26. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock worth $29,222,475. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,051,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707,520 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 17,468.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,715,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,887,000 after buying an additional 1,705,982 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in The Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,009,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 764,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,269,000 after buying an additional 360,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 182.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 387,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,551,000 after buying an additional 250,021 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.