The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Sets New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $46.00. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock. The Carlyle Group traded as low as $34.20 and last traded at $33.70, with a volume of 1063467 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.71.

CG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of The Carlyle Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 68.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,651,000 after purchasing an additional 777,304 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 165,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,364,000 after buying an additional 36,873 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 302,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,537 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,671,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,406,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,999,000 after purchasing an additional 14,024 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 24.02%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

The Carlyle Group Company Profile

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.