Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But the main game is to find enough winners to more...

We hate to say this but, we told you so. On February 27th we published an article with the title Recession is Imminent: We Need A Travel Ban NOW and predicted a US recession when the S&P 500 Index was trading at the 3150 level. We also told you to short the market and buy […]

Investors who take an interest in Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CXP) should definitely note that the President...

Columbia Property Trust will webcast a conference call with an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey on Thursday, March 26, 2020, at 12:30 pm E.T.

Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CXP) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making...

Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CXP) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share, or $0.84 per share on an annualized basis, for the second quarter of 2020. The dividend will be paid on June 16, 2020, to shareholders of record as of June 1, 2020.

Columbia Property Trust has released its 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Report, available at www.columbia.reit/responsibility.

In 2013, E. Mills was appointed CEO of Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CXP). This analysis aims first to contrast...

Markets had an amazing day yesterday; the Dow closed up 11.36%, while the S&P 500 gained 9.38%. The gains on the S&P reversed the indexes losses from the previous three trading sessions. It was clearly a bullish day, and gives hope that traders may yet be able to break the market swoon.Following the upbeat lead of the trading session, we’ve dipped into TipRanks’ Insiders Stocks tool, looking for purchase options that may otherwise fly under the radar. Our look into the database has brought up three stocks that have seen recent strong purchases from company insiders. All three are bargains and offer investors well over 100% upside potential, according to analysts. Let’s see what else makes these stocks worth a second look.Kimbell Royalty Partners (KRP)We’ll start in Texas’ oil patch, which despite crashing oil prices (both WTI and Brent have broken below $30 in the last two weeks, and WTI is selling for just $24.94) remains a major driver in the American oil industry. Kimbell Royalty owns and operates over 38,000 active wells across all of the major American oil regions, with 43% of its activity in the Texas Permian Basin.Just after the market crash, Kimbell reported its Q4 and FY2019 results. Revenues for both reporting periods were up year-over-year. Quarterly revenue came in at $27.2 million, up 18%, while full year revenue gained 64% to reach $107.5 million. Kimbell also announced another acquisition of a competitor, buying the oil and natural gas mineral rights from Springbok Energy Partners for $175 million.High earnings and a forward-looking acquisition strategy provide a solid base for Kimbell’s dividend, which the company is committed to maintaining. KRP has kept an ongoing policy of adjusting the regular quarterly payments to keep them affordable. The current dividend, 38 cents, was paid out in January and annualizes to $1.52, or an incredible 31% yield. The yield is high because the share price has been pushed down – but Kimbell’s reputation for paying is reliable, and quite frankly, there are few investments of any sort that can boast a 31% yield.In recent days, Kimbell has seen three major insider purchases. Robert Ravnaas, President and CFO, Matthew Daly, COO, and Board of Directors member Brett Taylor have all spent over $100,000 on blocks of KRP shares. The largest single purchase was Taylor’s, for $120,025. The purchases part of an insider buying spree that has totaled $379,500 in the past two weeks.Covering KRP for Credit Suisse, right after the Q4 announcement, analyst Betty Jiang wrote, “Overall a somewhat quiet quarter given they’d already announced Springbok acquisition and are waiting for the transaction to close before providing FY20 guidance. That said, given the continued acquisitive activity management remains very confident in the LT growth outlook of 3-6%. KRP is also seeing good growth on all facets of the broader portfolio… KRP continues to benefit from a best-in-class low PDP decline rate which helps insulate their growth outlook from the broader volatility in operator activity.”Jiang rates the stock a Buy, with a price target of $19. At current levels, that implies an upside of 320%. (To watch Jiang’s track record, click here)KRP shares have a Strong Buy rating from the analyst consensus, based on 5 Buy-side reviews against a single Hold. Shares are down to $4.52, and the $15.83 average price target suggests room for 250% upside growth in the next 12 months. (See Kimbell stock analysis on TipRanks)Catasys (CATS)Next on our list is a small-cap health management company based in California. Catasys manages a provider network for a variety of employer and union health plans – and sees no negative impact from the current coronavirus spread. In fact, according to Catasys’ Q4 earnings release, the economic impact of coronavirus on the company has been net positive. Sometimes, it pays to be in healthcare.The company uses AI to power a tracking platform, meant to facilitate health care plan members in treating behavioral health conditions – to prevent or ameliorate chronic medical conditions. Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and COPD are all serious conditions incurring high medical costs – but all can be addressed, at least in part, by less costly non-medical measures which Catasys’ platform encourages.CATS reported record enrollment up to March 2020, along with $35.1 million in full-year 2019 revenues. That revenue number represented 131% year-over-year annual growth. For Q4 alone, the $11.8 million in reported revenue was up 33% sequentially and 109% yoy. Expenses continued to exceed revenues, however, and CATS also reported a 52-cent per share net loss in Q4, far deeper than the 9-cent loss one year earlier.Catasys is also in the midst of upper management turnover, appointing a new CFO and a new EVP in recent weeks, with both appointments effective this month, after bringing in a new company President and COO this past December. That last appointment led to a major insider stock purchase when the new President, Curtis Medeiros, picked up two large blocks of shares, totaling over 40,000 shares, earlier this month. Medeiros bought the shares in two lots, spending just under $200,000 on each purchase. The buy is seen as a clear sign of management confidence in the company and stock.5-star analyst Richard Close, of Canaccord Genuity, rates this stock a Buy, with a $26 price target indicating a most impressive 138% upside potential. (To watch Close’s track record, click here.)In his comments on CATS, Close wrote, “As we called out following last week's 4Q'19 financial report, the re-vamped management team is applying their significant corporate experience to improve operational processes and workflows which should lead to improving enrollment, retention, new client sales, and ultimately significant sustained revenue growth and profitability.”Some stocks fly under the radar, and CATS is one of those. Close’s is the only recent analyst review of this company, and it is decidedly positive. (See Catasys stock analysis on TipRanks)Columbia Property Trust (CXP)Last on our list is a real estate investment trust (REIT), focused on office properties in major urban areas. The company’s main activities are located in New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC, with additional properties in Boston and Los Angeles. Columbia’s properties total 6.8 million square feet, with 97% of the portfolio leased out – and better, the company’s average lease has 6.4 years remaining.Columbia made two major acquisitions in 2019, a 235,000 square foot office building in Manhattan for $205.5 million, and a 252,000 square foot building in San Francisco for $238.9 million. CXP reported 8 cents per share in net income for the year, exceeding its full-year high-end guidance. The company’s operations supported a generous dividend, with the 21-cent quarterly payment annualizing to 84 cents, and giving a yield of 9.1%. That yield is more than four times the average dividend among S&P listed companies. At 61%, the payout ratio indicates that the dividend is stable and sustainable.Three company officers have made large stock purchases in the past two weeks. First was Jeff Gronning, CIO, who bought 9,500 shares for $148,975. His purchase was followed by two from Board member John Dixon, who bought two blocks of 5,000 shares each, for a total of $130,000. The last purchases, by company President and CEO Nelson Mills, totaled over $250,000. Mills picked up two blocks of, of 21,056 and 6,000 shares. The purchases, taken together, show that management is committed to the company.SunTrust Robinson, in a report that updates earlier comments by 5-star analyst Ki Bin Kim, keeps a Buy rating on CXP shares. The $23 price target implies an upside of $149. (To watch Kim’s track record, click here)Writing on the stock, Kim says, “We like CXP’s now more focused portfolio, catering largely to growing tech & media tenants. Investors will want to see management find a good balance in the use of JV structures and value-add development pursuits, and maintain comfortable financial leverage. The stock has been under pressure, like most office REITs, but we think it is relatively undervalued.”Columbia’s Moderate Buy analyst consensus rating is based on three reviews, including 2 Buys and 1 Hold. Shares are priced at a discount, just $10.22, and the average price target of $23 matches that of SunTrust. (See Columbia Property stock analysis on TipRanks)

Q1 2020 Columbia Property Trust Inc Earnings Call

CorpGov Hosted Panel with CTEH®, Nasdaq, Columbia Property Trust and ICR As state and local governments across the country phase out restrictions and allow companies to reopen, business leaders must be prepared to meet varying regulatory compliance and employee safety rules and protocols. To help them navigate this ever-evolving guidance, CorpGov moderated the first panel in […]

Columbia Property Trust will release Q1 2020 results after market close on April 30, 2020, and host a live conference call that day at 5:00 pm ET.

CorpGov to Host Panel with CTEH®, Nasdaq, Columbia Property Trust and ICR As state and local governments across the country phase out restrictions and allow companies to reopen, business leaders must be prepared to meet varying regulatory compliance and employee safety rules and protocols. To help them navigate this ever-evolving guidance, CorpGov will […]

The analysts covering Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CXP) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today...

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has been analyzing the market performance, and has a mixed outlook for the year – not necessarily bad news for the long term, but an acknowledgement that we’re not completely certain what the economic cycle has in store. David Kostin, Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist, predicts that the market has not found its true bottom yet, and has to meet three conditions before it can. Kostin notes that the current peak-to-trough time, of just 23 trading days, is an order of magnitude faster than the median – which stands at 17 months. But there is hope on the horizon: Kostin also believes that the S&P can finish out the year at 3,000.The three conditions Kostin sees as essential to a true market bottom are: A slow in the viral spread in the US, allowing investors to understand the actual economic impact; evidence that policy actions by the Federal Reserve and Congress are showing success in limiting the damage; and a bottoming out in both investor sentiment and positioning.Once the bottom is reached, Kostin sees a quick rebound in the offing. With that in mind, Goldman's stock analysts remind investors that compelling opportunities can still be found. Using TipRanks database, we were able to pinpoint 3 stocks that are Buy-rated and backed by the analysts from Goldman Sachs as well as the rest of the Street. To top it all off, each stands to see over 35% gains in the next year. Columbia Property Trust (CXP)We’ll start in commercial real estate, with an REIT focused on urban office properties. Columbia Property Trust holds some 6.8 million square feet of office space in New York, San Francisco, and Washington DC, with smaller investments in Los Angeles and Boston. Three of these cities – NY, LA, and San Fran – are hard-hit by coronavirus or the lockdown policies implemented to halt its spread. That should hurt a commercial landlord, but Columbia also has over 6 years remaining on its average lease, and those long remaining terms, along with a high occupancy rate of 97%, help to insulate the company from immediate difficulties.A solid end to 2019 also put Columbia in a fair position to meet the current downturn. The company met the earnings forecast, showing 34 cents per share, while the $68.73 million revenues beat the estimates by 3.1%. The earnings were more than enough to keep up the 21-cent quarterly dividend. The payout ratio, at 61%, is low for the sector – but also shows that the company can easily afford its dividend. At 7.6%, the yield is excellent, far ahead of both the average yield on the S&P 500 and the yield on Treasury notes.5-star analyst Richard Skidmore, covering CXP for Goldman Sachs, sees the stock with a clear near-term path to weather the current storm. Skidmore writes, “CXP has approximately 2% of its portfolio expiring in 2020, so we see limited downside risk resulting from the current environment. We expect growth to accelerate in 2021/2022 driven by expiration renewals… From a liquidity perspective, CXP has $314mn available under its revolving credit facility, so we believe CXP has adequate liquidity to fund its operations…”Skidmore backs his Buy rating on the stock with a $16 price target, indicative of a 44% upside potential. (To watch Skidmore’s track record, click here)Overall, CXP shares have a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus, based on 3 Buy ratings and 1 Hold. The stock is selling for a low $11.10, and the $21.25 average price target suggest room for 91% upside growth in the coming 12 months. (See Columbia stock analysis on TipRanks)Celanese Corporation (CE)Next up, we’ll switch to the chemical industry, where Texas-based Celanese holds a global niche. The company produces acetyl products, a vital molecular compound with applications in a wide range of industries. Celanese is also the largest producer of vinyl acetate monomer, a vital component of industrial polymers and adhesives.The coronavirus pandemic, by forcing workplace closures to halt the viral spread, has halted operations and put serious pressure on the company. This comes on the heels of a disappointing fourth quarter, in which demand fell and earnings and revenues both missed the estimates. EPS, at $1.99 cents, was down 16% year-over-year, and revenues declined 15% over the same period.On a positive note, Celanese boasted $179 million in free cash flow for the quarter, well ahead of the $144 million in capital expenditure. The company was easily able to maintain its 62-cent quarterly dividend, with a moderate payout ratio of 31%. At $2.48, the annualized payment gives a yield of 3.6%.Goldman Sachs 5-star analyst Robert Koort has been covering CE shares, and sees them in an advantageous position right now – enough that he upgraded his stance on the stock from Neutral to Buy. His $95 price target implies an upside potential of 38%. (To watch Koort’s track record, click here)Defending his position on CE, Koort writes, “…the company has shown an ability to maintain meaningful free cash generation during previous economic downturns. Additionally, a significantly improved and less capital intensive business mix, and strategic acquisitions have driven structurally higher cash generation capabilities through the cycle, as evidenced by steep increases and relative stability in FCF generation over the last 7 years.”It appears consensus sentiment matches well with Koort's bullish stance, with TipRanks analytics showing CE as a Buy. Based on 17 analysts tracked in the last 3 months, 10 rate the stock a "buy," while 7 suggest "hold." The 12-month average price target stands at $104.36, marking a 52% upside from where the stock is currently trading. (See Celanese stock analysis on TipRanks.)Univar Solutions (UNVR)Last on our list is another player in the chemical industry. Univar is an ingredients distributor, providing an enormous range of chemicals, solvents, and additives needed by industrial chemical manufacturers in completing their formulations. The company bills itself as the one-stop-shop in supplying the major chemical manufacturers, and its $9.3 billion in 2019 revenue, up 8% year-over-year, underlines the importance of that niche.Q4 revenues were in-line with the 2019 total. At $2.2 billion, the quarterly total showed 9% year-over-year growth. EPS, however, was down; the 29 cents reported fell 4 cents from the year-ago number. Like Celanese above, however, Univar finished 2019 with plenty of cash on hand. The company reported some $330.3 million available, a 172% increase.This is another stock reviewed by GS’s Robert Koort. Like CE above, Koort gives UNVR an upgrade, raising his outlook to a Buy. Koort gives the stock a $15 price target, showing confidence in a 51% upside for the coming year. (To watch Koort’s track record, click here)Commenting on Univar, Koort wrote, “When looking at prior periods of economic weakness, distributors have broadly proven to perform relatively in-line with the market… we believe the stock has underperformed driven by several factors. First, during the last quarterly earnings call UNVR provided disappointing FCF guidance… We see this dynamic improving as the FCF guidance for 2020 assumed a back-end loaded improvement in sales. Should the macro environment falter… this could result in improving FCF...”UNVR shares are heavily discounted after the market’s recent slide, selling for just $9.89 now. The average price target is $24.88, and implies a powerful growth potential: 152% for the coming year. The stock gets a Moderate Buy rating from the analyst consensus, based on a 3 to 2 split of Buys versus Holds. (See Univar’s stock analysis at TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Q1 2018 Columbia Property Trust Inc Earnings Call

Columbia (CXP) delivered FFO and revenue surprises of 8.33% and 8.04%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2020. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?

Columbia Property Trust released its Q1 2020 results in the Investor Relations section of its website and announced updated guidance.

On the call with me today are Nelson Mills, President and Chief Executive Officer; Jim Fleming, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and other members of our senior management team. Statements made on today's call regarding expected operating results and other future events are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

Columbia Property Trust has completed the sale of an office park in Pasadena, California, for $78 million.