Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT) Stock Short Interest Rises 535.1%

Key Points

• Short interest surged 535.1% to 1.76 million shares as of October 15, representing about 3.8% of outstanding shares and 5.7 days of average trading volume.
• Institutional investors own 28.86% of PBT, with several funds increasing their positions during the first and second quarters.
• The trust raised its monthly dividend to $0.0452 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.54 payout and a 1.6% yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,764,223 shares, a growth of 535.1% from the September 30th total of 277,800 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 307,439 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 116.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $9,081,000 after acquiring an additional 226,600 shares during the last quarter. Mad River Investors increased its stake in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Mad River Investors now owns 1,003,140 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $21,588,000 after purchasing an additional 16,321 shares during the last quarter. Post Resch Tallon Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 80.3% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,109 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.86% of the company's stock.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of PBT stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.33. 14,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,148. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.21 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.47. Permian Basin Royalty Trust has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $37.00.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Permian Basin Royalty Trust had a net margin of 91.96% and a return on equity of 9,990.08%. The company had revenue of $4.18 million during the quarter.

Permian Basin Royalty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.0452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Permian Basin Royalty Trust's previous monthly dividend of $0.0196. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Permian Basin Royalty Trust's payout ratio is 68.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Permian Basin Royalty Trust from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

About Permian Basin Royalty Trust

Permian Basin Royalty Trust NYSE: PBT is a grantor trust that holds interests in oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The trust does not explore for, develop, or operate properties itself. Instead, it receives proceeds generated from the production and sale of hydrocarbons from properties in which it owns royalty or net profits interests.

The trust's principal interests include properties associated with the Waddell Ranch in Texas, as well as additional Texas royalty properties.

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