Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AHT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE:AHT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 158,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the December 31st total of 133,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 53,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Ashford Hospitality Trust Stock Performance

AHT stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.90. 8,961 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,330. Ashford Hospitality Trust has a one year low of $5.20 and a one year high of $20.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.61 million, a PE ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 2.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.43.

Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported ($12.39) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($12.99). The company had revenue of $276.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.50 million. Ashford Hospitality Trust had a negative return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 2.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ashford Hospitality Trust will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ashford Hospitality Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AHT. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Ashford Hospitality Trust by 215.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 94,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 64,212 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 195,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 38,215 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ashford Hospitality Trust by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 531,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 158,882 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Ashford Hospitality Trust by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 482,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 22,400 shares during the period. 41.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Ashford Hospitality Trust Company Profile

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries (Ashford Trust), is a real estate investment trust (REIT). While our portfolio currently consists of upscale hotels and upper upscale full-service hotels, our investment strategy is predominantly focused on investing in upper upscale full-service hotels in the United States that have revenue per available room (RevPAR) generally less than twice the U.S.