Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 608,476 shares, an increase of 108.7% from the September 15th total of 291,508 shares. Currently, 13.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 264,092 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on GPMT shares. Zacks Research raised Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Point Mortgage Trust to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Compass Point set a $12.50 price target on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.33.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of GPMT traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.80. 53,965 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,890. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $5.71 and a 52 week high of $28.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.75. The firm has a market cap of $27.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.29 and a beta of 1.64.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($7.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.90) by ($4.00). Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 73.75% and a negative return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $8.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.85 million. Analysts forecast that Granite Point Mortgage Trust will post -15.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This is a decrease from Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently -1.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPMT. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 140.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 87,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 50,926 shares during the period. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,082,000. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,905,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,762,000 after buying an additional 10,412 shares during the period. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,580,000. Institutional investors own 51.63% of the company’s stock.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc (NYSE:GPMT) is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company primarily originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other debt investments secured by properties in the United States.

Its portfolio is centered on floating-rate senior mortgage loans, including loans for transitional commercial properties that may require leasing, renovation, redevelopment or other improvements. Granite Point generally provides financing to owners and investors of office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and other commercial real estate assets.

Granite Point was established in 2015 and became a publicly traded company in 2017.