Bridge Investment Group (NYSE:BRDG) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 373,307 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session’s volume of 182,073 shares.The stock last traded at $8.37 and had previously closed at $8.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Bridge Investment Group from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Bridge Investment Group from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Bridge Investment Group in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Bridge Investment Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bridge Investment Group from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.70.

Bridge Investment Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $926.29 million, a P/E ratio of 191.30 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Bridge Investment Group (NYSE:BRDG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). Bridge Investment Group had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The company had revenue of $101.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Bridge Investment Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Bridge Investment Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,000.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Katherine Elsnab sold 3,078 shares of Bridge Investment Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total value of $25,516.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 303,937 shares in the company, valued at $2,519,637.73. The trade was a 1.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Dean Allara sold 10,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total transaction of $86,531.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 683,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,667,093.74. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 145,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,966 over the last three months. 65.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bridge Investment Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Bridge Investment Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,370,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,271,000 after purchasing an additional 74,779 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Bridge Investment Group by 288.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,509,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,901,000 after buying an additional 1,120,549 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bridge Investment Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,286,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,383,000 after acquiring an additional 14,235 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Bridge Investment Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 773,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,632,000 after acquiring an additional 8,909 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bridge Investment Group by 11.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 407,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,026,000 after acquiring an additional 40,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.83% of the company’s stock.

Bridge Investment Group Company Profile

Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc engages in the real estate investment management business in the United States. It manages capital on behalf of approximately hundred global institutions and 6,500 individual investors across approximately 25 investment vehicles. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.