Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG) Short Interest Update

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,000 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the October 31st total of 4,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Westwood Holdings Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,107 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 11.9% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,427 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 2,178 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 358,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,097,000 after buying an additional 5,121 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 2.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 243,897 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,971,000 after buying an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Westwood Holdings Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 126,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 9,389 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westwood Holdings Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Westwood Holdings Group Stock Down 1.2 %

WHG opened at $15.80 on Monday. Westwood Holdings Group has a twelve month low of $10.75 and a twelve month high of $18.03. The company has a market cap of $146.50 million, a PE ratio of 47.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.51.

Westwood Holdings Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Westwood Holdings Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 181.82%.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment.