Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Vornado Realty Trust’s price target from $34 to $40 while maintaining a neutral rating, implying about 3.5% upside from the stock’s $38.65 price. Analysts overall have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target of $39.83.
• Vornado’s latest quarterly results were mixed: revenue reached $462.24 million, ahead of estimates, but earnings per share came in at $0.08 versus the $0.57 consensus forecast.
• The company authorized a $300 million share-buyback program, allowing repurchases of up to 5.4% of outstanding shares, while institutional investors own approximately 90% of the stock.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Citigroup from $34.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.49% from the stock's current price.

VNO has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vornado Realty Trust from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vornado Realty Trust from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vornado Realty Trust from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Vornado Realty Trust from $33.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Vornado Realty Trust from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.83.

Vornado Realty Trust Price Performance

VNO stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.65. The company had a trading volume of 150,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,988. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.59 and a 200 day moving average of $32.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,925.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 5.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Vornado Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $24.57 and a fifty-two week high of $43.37.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $462.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.46 million. Vornado Realty Trust had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vornado Realty Trust will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Vornado Realty Trust declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 29th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael D. Fascitelli sold 133,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total transaction of $4,883,277.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 475,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,400,395.82. The trade was a 21.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Russell B. Wight, Jr. purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.94 per share, for a total transaction of $67,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,220. This trade represents a 44.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 9.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vornado Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 512.9% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 858 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 186.9% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Vornado Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Vornado Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.02% of the company's stock.

About Vornado Realty Trust

Vornado Realty Trust is a self‐administered real estate investment trust focused on the ownership, management and redevelopment of office and retail properties. As a fully integrated REIT, the company oversees leasing, property management, building operations and strategic capital improvements designed to enhance asset value and tenant experience. Vornado's business model emphasizes long‐term cash flow generation through stable rental income and disciplined portfolio optimization.

The company's core portfolio is concentrated in New York City, where it holds a diverse mix of office towers and street‐level retail assets in prominent submarkets such as Midtown and the Penn Plaza corridor.

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