Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the September 15th total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 370,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 16.9 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Claros Mortgage Trust Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE CMTG traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $6.35. The company had a trading volume of 522,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,679. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.59 and its 200 day moving average is $8.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 28.19 and a quick ratio of 28.19. Claros Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.08 and a fifty-two week high of $15.25. The company has a market capitalization of $881.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.18 and a beta of 1.49.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.25 million. Claros Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 3.30% and a negative net margin of 35.47%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Claros Mortgage Trust will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Claros Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Claros Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -64.52%.

Institutional Trading of Claros Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $150,000. Waterfall Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Claros Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,448,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Claros Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Claros Mortgage Trust by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 45,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 400.0% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CMTG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research started coverage on Claros Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.50 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Claros Mortgage Trust from $9.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.13.

Claros Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.