Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:APTS) Short Interest Update

Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:APTS – Get Rating) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,380,000 shares, an increase of 56.4% from the April 15th total of 3,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APTS. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Apartment Communities during the first quarter worth $80,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Preferred Apartment Communities by 90.6% in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 248,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 118,118 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Preferred Apartment Communities by 12.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 16,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Preferred Apartment Communities in the third quarter valued at $385,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Preferred Apartment Communities by 131.6% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 110,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 62,840 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.96% of the company’s stock.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APTS shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Preferred Apartment Communities from $17.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 23rd. Jonestrading downgraded Preferred Apartment Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on Preferred Apartment Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised Preferred Apartment Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.90.

NYSE APTS traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $24.89. 900,543 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,009. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.94 and a 200-day moving average of $19.94. Preferred Apartment Communities has a 52 week low of $9.19 and a 52 week high of $25.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Preferred Apartment Communities (NYSE:APTS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.08). Preferred Apartment Communities had a return on equity of 1.33% and a net margin of 3.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Apartment Communities will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Preferred Apartment Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.11%.

About Preferred Apartment Communities (Get Rating)

Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc (NYSE: APTS) is a real estate investment trust engaged primarily in the ownership and operation of Class A multifamily properties, with select investments in grocery anchored shopping centers, Class A office buildings, and student housing properties. Preferred Apartment Communities' investment objective is to generate attractive, stable returns for stockholders by investing in income-producing properties and acquiring or originating real estate loans for multifamily properties.

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