Liberty All Star Equity Closed Fund (NYSE:USA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Friday.
A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on USA. Jefferies Group upgraded Liberty All-Star Equity Fund from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley cut Liberty All-Star Equity Fund from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Liberty All-Star Equity Fund from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Liberty All-Star Equity Fund from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3.91 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised Liberty All-Star Equity Fund from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $4.51 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.59.
Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE:USA) traded down 0.19% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.20. 372,573 shares of the company's stock traded hands. Liberty All-Star Equity Fund has a 1-year low of $4.26 and a 1-year high of $5.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $5.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.89.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 27th.
A number of large investors have added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 1.9% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 20,974 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund during the first quarter valued at about $158,000. One Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 1.3% in the first quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 34,611 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 2.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 43,935 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Liberty All-Star Equity Fund by 65.1% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp (NYSE:MTB) now owns 51,121 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 20,149 shares during the last quarter.
Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks total investment return comprised of long-term capital appreciation and current income through investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities. Its portfolio of investments includes consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, healthcare, industrials, information technology, materials and utilities.