CrossAmerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL) Short Interest Up 8.9% in December

CrossAmerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 131,500 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the December 15th total of 120,700 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 32,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of CrossAmerica Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of CrossAmerica Partners by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 361,231 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,485,000 after acquiring an additional 28,991 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CrossAmerica Partners in the second quarter valued at about $348,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of CrossAmerica Partners in the third quarter worth about $279,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of CrossAmerica Partners by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 6,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of CrossAmerica Partners by 18.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 27,021 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.06% of the company’s stock.

CrossAmerica Partners Price Performance

Shares of CAPL opened at $22.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $862.78 million, a PE ratio of 43.61 and a beta of 1.46. CrossAmerica Partners has a one year low of $18.43 and a one year high of $24.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.74.

CrossAmerica Partners (NYSE:CAPL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. CrossAmerica Partners had a net margin of 0.50% and a negative return on equity of 104.40%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CrossAmerica Partners will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

CrossAmerica Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.26%. CrossAmerica Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 403.85%.

About CrossAmerica Partners

CrossAmerica Partners LP engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, operation of convenience stores, and ownership and leasing of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to lessee dealers, independent dealers, commission agents, and company operated retail sites.