Paramount Group (NYSE:PGRE) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Paramount Group, Inc. (NYSE:PGRE - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $6.36 and last traded at $6.34, with a volume of 794426 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PGRE. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Paramount Group from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $3.25 price objective on shares of Paramount Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Paramount Group from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $4.50 to $8.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Paramount Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Paramount Group from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.19.

Paramount Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 4.45 and a quick ratio of 4.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $4.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.62 and a beta of 1.32.

Paramount Group (NYSE:PGRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.17. Paramount Group had a negative net margin of 27.92% and a negative return on equity of 5.26%. The firm had revenue of $187.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.79 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paramount Group, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Albert P. Behler acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.15 per share, for a total transaction of $41,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 751,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,120,019.80. This trade represents a 1.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,922,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $132,999,000 after purchasing an additional 477,940 shares during the last quarter. Long Pond Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Group by 16.8% in the first quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 11,737,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,098 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,860,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,011,000 after purchasing an additional 135,654 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Group by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,895,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,304,000 after purchasing an additional 292,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Group by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,891,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 827,187 shares during the last quarter. 65.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paramount Group

Paramount Group, Inc ("Paramount" or the "Company") is a fully-integrated real estate investment trust that owns, operates, manages, acquires and redevelops high-quality, Class A office properties located in select central business district submarkets of New York and San Francisco. Paramount is focused on maximizing the value of its portfolio by leveraging the sought-after locations of its assets and its proven property management capabilities to attract and retain high-quality tenants.