Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Expands By 5.9%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,040,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the September 15th total of 16,090,000 shares. Currently, 8.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CG. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on The Carlyle Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.27.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

CG stock opened at $51.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.73. The Carlyle Group has a 1 year low of $27.13 and a 1 year high of $51.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.93.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $808.73 million. The Carlyle Group had a negative net margin of 11.67% and a positive return on equity of 24.30%. The Carlyle Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 131.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -78.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Carlyle Group news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 924,466 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total value of $1,978,357.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,643,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,796,514.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,818,699 shares of company stock worth $48,506,781. 27.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 147.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the third quarter valued at about $258,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 41,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 8.4% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.