Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $2.75 to $2.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Compass Point set a $2.05 price objective on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.68.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust stock opened at $1.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.54. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $1.61 and a 12-month high of $3.12. The company has a market capitalization of $81.57 million, a P/E ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 1.72.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $10.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.22 million. Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative return on equity of 15.52% and a negative net margin of 31.24%. On average, analysts predict that Granite Point Mortgage Trust will post -2.75 EPS for the current year.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently -17.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Point Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPMT. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 9,425.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,007,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 996,647 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 1,020.8% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 720,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 656,164 shares during the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC purchased a new position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at about $988,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $560,000. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $440,000. 51.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Granite Point Mortgage Trust, Inc is a specialty finance company that invests directly in commercial real estate debt. The company focuses on originating, acquiring and managing senior preferred and mezzanine loans secured by income-producing real estate across diverse property types, including multifamily, office, industrial and retail assets. Granite Point Mortgage Trust operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT), providing investors with exposure to floating-rate commercial mortgage loan investments.

Granite Point’s investment strategy centers on structuring loans to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns, with portfolio allocations spanning senior loans, B-notes and mezzanine financings.