Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) Trading Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) dropped 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $4.08 and last traded at $4.00. Approximately 70,158 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 1,123,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMTG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $4.00 to $2.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.31.

Claros Mortgage Trust Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 20.68, a current ratio of 25.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $560.94 million, a PE ratio of -2.53 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.36.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.03. Claros Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 89.07% and a positive return on equity of 4.72%. The firm had revenue of $60.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.07 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Claros Mortgage Trust news, CEO Richard Mack bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.38 per share, for a total transaction of $84,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,589,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,754,135.78. This represents a 0.97 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mike Mcgillis bought 24,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.30 per share, with a total value of $79,579.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 475,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,618.50. This trade represents a 5.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 169,115 shares of company stock valued at $547,930 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Claros Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMTG. Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Claros Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,374,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $2,552,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 236.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 479,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 336,931 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,679,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after purchasing an additional 277,053 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 568,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,571,000 after purchasing an additional 217,989 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Claros Mortgage Trust

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It focuses on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional commercial real estate assets in the United States. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders.