Short Interest in Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) Rises By 20.0%

Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,830,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the August 15th total of 9,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cushman & Wakefield from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James raised their target price on Cushman & Wakefield from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.42.

Cushman & Wakefield Stock Performance

CWK traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.41. 3,045,306 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,203,445. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 335.25 and a beta of 1.31. Cushman & Wakefield has a 1-year low of $6.24 and a 1-year high of $13.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. Cushman & Wakefield had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 0.22%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cushman & Wakefield will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 14.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 359,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,755,000 after purchasing an additional 45,700 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cushman & Wakefield by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,678,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,245 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 52.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 658,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,889,000 after acquiring an additional 227,519 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 187,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 99,619 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cushman & Wakefield during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,742,000. 95.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial real estate services under the Cushman & Wakefield brand in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific segments.