Retail Opportunity Investments (NASDAQ:ROIC) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Insider Selling

Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (NASDAQ:ROIC – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $13.33 and last traded at $13.44, with a volume of 287980 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.75.

Specifically, Director Laura H. Pomerantz sold 10,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.78, for a total transaction of $148,824.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,575.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Laura H. Pomerantz sold 6,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.55, for a total value of $99,908.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 59,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $928,397.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura H. Pomerantz sold 10,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.78, for a total transaction of $148,824.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,575.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROIC shares. BTIG Research cut shares of Retail Opportunity Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Retail Opportunity Investments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Retail Opportunity Investments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.00.

Retail Opportunity Investments Stock Down 4.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.06.

Retail Opportunity Investments (NASDAQ:ROIC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.19). Retail Opportunity Investments had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $80.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Retail Opportunity Investments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. Retail Opportunity Investments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Retail Opportunity Investments

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Retail Opportunity Investments by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Retail Opportunity Investments by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Retail Opportunity Investments by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Retail Opportunity Investments by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Retail Opportunity Investments by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. 95.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Retail Opportunity Investments

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Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail real estate properties. It specializes in the acquisition, ownership and management of grocery-anchored shopping centers located in densely-populated, metropolitan markets across the West Coast.