Short Interest in Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) Drops By 17.9%

Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,890,000 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the February 28th total of 13,260,000 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cushman & Wakefield from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Cushman & Wakefield from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $18.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cushman & Wakefield from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Cushman & Wakefield from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cushman & Wakefield

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 264.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Cushman & Wakefield by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 820.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 6,431 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield during the 4th quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 143.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.56% of the company’s stock.

Cushman & Wakefield Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of CWK stock traded down $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $9.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 354,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,755. Cushman & Wakefield has a fifty-two week low of $9.24 and a fifty-two week high of $16.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Cushman & Wakefield had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Cushman & Wakefield will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield Plc engages in the provision of commercial real estate services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC). The Americas segment consists of operations located in the United States, Canada and key markets in Latin America.