Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Short Interest Up 19.3% in March

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.3% from the February 28th total of 1,090,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 391,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GPMT. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $3.00 to $3.25 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $3.75 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Granite Point Mortgage Trust news, Director Patrick Gregory Halter purchased 34,001 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,202.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,202.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 34,770 shares of company stock worth $108,849. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,200,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 22,335 shares during the period. Gratia Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $1,953,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 526,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 63,970 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 209.2% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 493,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 334,109 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 391,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after buying an additional 110,143 shares in the last quarter. 51.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of GPMT traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.42. The stock had a trading volume of 164,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,645. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $2.42 and a 52 week high of $4.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.00. The firm has a market cap of $117.98 million, a P/E ratio of -0.55 and a beta of 1.46.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($1.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by ($1.26). The firm had revenue of $7.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.90 million. Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 111.59% and a negative return on equity of 14.08%. As a group, research analysts expect that Granite Point Mortgage Trust will post -2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.56%.

About Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc, a real estate investment trust, originates, invests in, and manages senior floating-rate commercial mortgage loans, and other debt and debt-like commercial real estate investments in the United States. The company provides intermediate-term bridge or transitional financing for various purposes, including acquisitions, recapitalizations, and refinancing, as well as a range of business plans, including lease-up, renovation, repositioning, and repurposing of the commercial property.