Azora Capital LP Acquires New Position in Carlyle Group Inc. $CG

Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 599,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,791,000. Carlyle Group makes up about 1.4% of Azora Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Azora Capital LP owned about 0.17% of Carlyle Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Carlyle Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,719,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,270,586,000 after purchasing an additional 426,644 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Carlyle Group by 4.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,221,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $422,593,000 after buying an additional 378,455 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Carlyle Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,138,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,937,000 after buying an additional 311,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Carlyle Group by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,284,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,583,000 after acquiring an additional 228,484 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,366,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,063,000 after acquiring an additional 248,107 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carlyle Group Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Carlyle Group stock opened at $57.64 on Wednesday. Carlyle Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.02 and a twelve month high of $69.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.29. The firm has a market cap of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 2.06.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The business had revenue of $782.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.51 million. Carlyle Group had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 23.46%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is currently 78.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CG has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Carlyle Group from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Carlyle Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Carlyle Group from $74.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Carlyle Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Carlyle Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Carlyle Group Profile

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.