The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 667,300 shares, an increase of 16.7% from the October 15th total of 571,600 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 187,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other St. Joe news, CEO Jorge Luis Gonzalez purchased 1,695 shares of St. Joe stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.05 per share, for a total transaction of $89,919.75. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,187,933.65. This trade represents a 2.90 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 343,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.45, for a total value of $18,354,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,396,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,849,552.80. The trade was a 1.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 600,700 shares of company stock valued at $33,085,747. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On St. Joe

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of St. Joe by 263.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of St. Joe during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 72,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of St. Joe by 549.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of St. Joe by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

St. Joe Price Performance

JOE opened at $49.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.34 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.95. St. Joe has a 52-week low of $49.36 and a 52-week high of $64.69.

St. Joe Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. St. Joe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.46%.

About St. Joe

The St. Joe Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development, asset management, and operating company in Northwest Florida. It operates through three segments: Residential, Hospitality, and Commercial. The Residential segment engages in the development of communities into homesites for sale to homebuilders and on a limited basis to retail customers.