Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of SL Green Realty Put Options (NYSE:SLG)

SL Green Realty Corporation (NYSE:SLG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 11,231 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 465% compared to the average volume of 1,988 put options.

SL Green Realty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SLG traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $44.93. 151,301 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,839. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 4,496.60 and a beta of 1.75. SL Green Realty has a 12 month low of $42.92 and a 12 month high of $80.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.66.

SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.24. SL Green Realty had a negative return on equity of 0.22% and a net margin of 1.75%.The business had revenue of $244.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that SL Green Realty will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SL Green Realty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.2575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. SL Green Realty’s dividend payout ratio is 30,900.00%.

Insider Transactions at SL Green Realty

In other SL Green Realty news, Director Carol N. Brown sold 937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $59,115.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of SL Green Realty during the first quarter worth approximately $87,878,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in SL Green Realty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,947,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in SL Green Realty by 104.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,622,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,439,000 after purchasing an additional 827,407 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in SL Green Realty by 663.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 513,556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,789,000 after purchasing an additional 446,283 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new position in SL Green Realty in the 2nd quarter valued at $18,695,000. 89.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $59.00 target price on shares of SL Green Realty in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of SL Green Realty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Scotiabank set a $66.00 target price on SL Green Realty and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on SL Green Realty from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of SL Green Realty in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SL Green Realty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.33.

About SL Green Realty

3SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office landlord, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2022, SL Green held interests in 64 buildings totaling 34.4 million square feet.