Short Interest in Veris Residential, Inc. (NYSE:VRE) Drops By 37.9%

Veris Residential, Inc. (NYSE:VRE) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, a decrease of 37.9% from the November 30th total of 3,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 425,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Veris Residential

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRE. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Veris Residential during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Veris Residential during the second quarter worth $48,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Veris Residential by 35.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Veris Residential by 5.8% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Veris Residential during the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. 93.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRE shares. Bank of America raised shares of Veris Residential from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Veris Residential from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Veris Residential Price Performance

Shares of VRE opened at $16.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of -98.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.27. Veris Residential has a 1-year low of $13.84 and a 1-year high of $18.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Veris Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from Veris Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Veris Residential’s dividend payout ratio is -188.24%.

About Veris Residential

Veris Residential, Inc is a forward-thinking, environmentally and socially conscious real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily owns, operates, acquires and develops holistically-inspired, Class A multifamily properties that meet the sustainability-conscious lifestyle needs of today’s residents while seeking to positively impact the communities it serves and the planet at large.