Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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 trading volume of 264,092 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 13.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Point Mortgage Trust

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPMT shares. Compass Point set a $12.50 price objective on Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $13.33.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Trading Down 6.5%

Shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.38. The company had a trading volume of 66,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,656. The company has a market capitalization of $25.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.64. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $5.30 and a 1-year high of $28.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.62.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($7.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.90) by ($4.00). Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 73.75% and a negative return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of $8.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.85 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Granite Point Mortgage Trust will post -15.30 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This is a negative change from Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently -1.99%.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.