Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Broker sentiment is mixed but cautious: Vornado Realty Trust has an average analyst rating of “Hold” across 12 brokerage firms, with one sell, eight hold, and three buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $34.27.
• Recent analyst coverage has turned more negative: Several firms cut price targets recently, including Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Piper Sandler, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from hold to sell.
• The company is seeing insider buying and a new buyback plan: Director Russell B. Wight, Jr. bought 4,000 shares, and Vornado’s board authorized a $300 million share repurchase program, covering up to 5.4% of outstanding shares.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.2727.

VNO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Vornado Realty Trust from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Vornado Realty Trust from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Vornado Realty Trust from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vornado Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Vornado Realty Trust from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st.

Insider Transactions at Vornado Realty Trust

In other Vornado Realty Trust news, Director Russell B. Wight, Jr. purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.94 per share, for a total transaction of $67,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $220,220. This trade represents a 44.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vornado Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VNO. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 18.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,507 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,017,000 after buying an additional 4,251 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 18.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,939 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 8,189 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 22.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 613,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $22,705,000 after buying an additional 112,956 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $763,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 9.6% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 365,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,967,000 after buying an additional 32,028 shares during the period. 90.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vornado Realty Trust Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE VNO opened at $38.92 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $30.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.13. Vornado Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $24.57 and a 12 month high of $43.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 6.14 and a quick ratio of 6.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.56.

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.07). Vornado Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.99% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The company had revenue of $459.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vornado Realty Trust will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Vornado Realty Trust announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 29th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.