Short Interest in Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Rises By 21.7%

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the January 31st total of 854,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 396,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick Gregory Halter bought 34,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,202.80. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,202.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 34,770 shares of company stock worth $108,849. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 112.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 28,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 14,941 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 32,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 64,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 34,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 120.4% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 243,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 132,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.63% of the company’s stock.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE GPMT opened at $2.83 on Thursday. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $2.46 and a 52 week high of $5.01. The company has a market capitalization of $141.13 million, a P/E ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.98.

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

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -4.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GPMT. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $3.75 to $3.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $3.00 to $3.25 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.