Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Grows By 23.1%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,910,000 shares, a growth of 23.1% from the January 31st total of 8,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CG shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research raised The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 77,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in The Carlyle Group by 96.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 152,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,575,000 after purchasing an additional 74,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 81,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,521,000 after buying an additional 5,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG traded down $2.42 on Thursday, hitting $43.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,421,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,460. The company has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The Carlyle Group has a 12 month low of $36.65 and a 12 month high of $57.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.05.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.36%.

The Carlyle Group Company 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.