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

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

Institutional Trading of Granite Point Mortgage Trust

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

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of GPMT traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.80. The company had a trading volume of 53,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,890. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.75. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $5.71 and a 1-year high of $28.50. The company has a market capitalization 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 announced 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). The company had revenue of $8.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.85 million. Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 73.75% and a negative return on equity of 10.25%. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.01 dividend. This is a decrease from Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $15.00 to $12.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Granite Point Mortgage Trust to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Compass Point set a $12.50 price objective on Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.33.

About Granite Point Mortgage Trust

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.