StockNews.com Upgrades CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) to “Buy”

CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of CBRE Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of CBRE Group from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of CBRE Group from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CBRE Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CBRE Group from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.50.

CBRE Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CBRE opened at $86.76 on Tuesday. CBRE Group has a fifty-two week low of $64.63 and a fifty-two week high of $98.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.19. The company has a market capitalization of $26.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. CBRE Group had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CBRE Group will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 2,667 shares of CBRE Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.53, for a total transaction of $249,444.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,766,895.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Chandra Dhandapani sold 11,925 shares of CBRE Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $1,121,307.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,947,827.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Emma E. Giamartino sold 2,667 shares of CBRE Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.53, for a total transaction of $249,444.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,766,895.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,592 shares of company stock valued at $3,675,752. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CBRE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CBRE Group during the 4th quarter valued at $381,164,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in CBRE Group by 164.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,505,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799,097 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in CBRE Group in the 4th quarter worth $104,277,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in CBRE Group by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,820,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $503,786,000 after purchasing an additional 894,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in CBRE Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 16,005,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,489,919,000 after purchasing an additional 683,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.41% of the company’s stock.

CBRE Group Company Profile

CBRE Group, Inc operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The Advisory Services segment offers strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices, and industrial and retail space; clients fully integrated property sales services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; clients commercial mortgage and structured financing services; originates and sells commercial mortgage loans; property management services, such as marketing, building engineering, accounting, and financial services on a contractual basis for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting.