St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

St. Joe Company (The) (NYSE:JOE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $63.84 and last traded at $63.5110, with a volume of 45927 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JOE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of St. Joe in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded St. Joe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, St. Joe presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

St. Joe Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.31.

St. Joe (NYSE:JOE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter. St. Joe had a net margin of 21.40% and a return on equity of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $161.08 million during the quarter.

St. Joe Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from St. Joe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. St. Joe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.56%.

Insider Activity at St. Joe

In other news, major shareholder Bruce R. Berkowitz sold 6,100 shares of St. Joe stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $378,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,252,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,007,668,888. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,900 shares of company stock valued at $4,480,854. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On St. Joe

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in St. Joe during the third quarter valued at $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 155.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of St. Joe by 2,265.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of St. Joe during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in St. Joe by 31.8% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

St. Joe Company Profile

The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) is a leading real estate development and asset management firm focused on Northwest Florida. Headquartered in Jacksonville, the company owns and manages approximately 171,000 acres of land across Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Walton counties. St. Joe’s core businesses include residential community development, commercial real estate, and hospitality, with an emphasis on master-planned neighborhoods, office and retail campuses, resort hotels and mixed-use town centers.

Founded in 1936 as a paper manufacturing company, St.