Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 73,864 Shares of Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (NASDAQ:ROIC)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (NASDAQ:ROIC) by 55.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 60,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 73,864 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Retail Opportunity Investments were worth $945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Retail Opportunity Investments by 2.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Retail Opportunity Investments by 6.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Retail Opportunity Investments by 35.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Retail Opportunity Investments by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Retail Opportunity Investments by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 183,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.16% of the company’s stock.

Retail Opportunity Investments Price Performance

Shares of ROIC stock opened at $17.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. has a 52-week low of $11.87 and a 52-week high of $17.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 37.72 and a beta of 1.47.

Retail Opportunity Investments (NASDAQ:ROIC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $83.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.13 million. Retail Opportunity Investments had a return on equity of 4.32% and a net margin of 17.38%. Retail Opportunity Investments’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Retail Opportunity Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Retail Opportunity Investments’s payout ratio is 130.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROIC. Raymond James cut Retail Opportunity Investments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp cut shares of Retail Opportunity Investments from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.50 target price (up from $16.00) on shares of Retail Opportunity Investments in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W lowered shares of Retail Opportunity Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Retail Opportunity Investments in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Retail Opportunity Investments Profile

Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (Nasdaq: ROIC), is a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the acquisition, ownership and management of grocery-anchored shopping centers located in densely populated, metropolitan markets across the West Coast. As of December 31, 2023, ROIC owned 94 shopping centers encompassing approximately 10.6 million square feet.