Short Interest in AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Rises By 41.4%

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 453,200 shares, an increase of 41.4% from the January 31st total of 320,500 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 254,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $8.50 price objective on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.25.

Institutional Trading of AG Mortgage Investment Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MITT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 5.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 663,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,980,000 after buying an additional 36,081 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 344,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,655,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 278,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 25,736 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 195,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,299,000 after buying an additional 9,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 169,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.32% of the company’s stock.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Price Performance

Shares of MITT stock traded down $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $7.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 261,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,545. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.44 and a fifty-two week high of $7.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 2.00.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). AG Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 20.19%. The firm had revenue of $22.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.44 million. Analysts predict that AG Mortgage Investment Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.09%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Company Profile

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc operates as a residential mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States. Its investment portfolio includes residential investments, including non-agency loans, agency-eligible loans, re-and non-performing loans, and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as commercial loans and commercial mortgage-backed securities.