BrightSpire Capital, Inc. (NYSE:BRSP) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell sharply, declining 33.9% to 3.65 million shares as of July 15, or 2.9% of shares outstanding, equivalent to two days of average trading volume.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 56.57%, with several firms—including Royal Bank of Canada, UBS, Goldman Sachs and Jane Street—recently increasing their positions.
• BrightSpire reported quarterly EPS of $0.13, below the $0.15 consensus, while revenue of $48.7 million also missed estimates. Shares opened at $4.97, and the company maintains a $0.16 quarterly dividend, representing a 12.9% annualized yield.

BrightSpire Capital, Inc. (NYSE:BRSP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,650,516 shares, a decline of 33.9% from the June 30th total of 5,519,102 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,784,271 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BrightSpire Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in BrightSpire Capital by 90.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 51,977 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BrightSpire Capital in the first quarter valued at about $131,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BrightSpire Capital by 2.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,011,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,184,000 after acquiring an additional 46,749 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of BrightSpire Capital by 9.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 328,809 shares of the company's stock worth $1,828,000 after acquiring an additional 27,713 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BrightSpire Capital by 257.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 286,724 shares of the company's stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 206,610 shares during the period. 56.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BRSP. Weiss Ratings downgraded BrightSpire Capital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JonesTrading reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of BrightSpire Capital in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research raised BrightSpire Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on BrightSpire Capital from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.50.

BrightSpire Capital Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BrightSpire Capital stock opened at $4.97 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $5.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.69. BrightSpire Capital has a 1 year low of $4.91 and a 1 year high of $6.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $646.96 million, a P/E ratio of -21.59 and a beta of 1.28.

BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $48.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.31 million. BrightSpire Capital had a negative net margin of 20.43% and a positive return on equity of 6.85%. Analysts forecast that BrightSpire Capital will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

BrightSpire Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.9%. BrightSpire Capital's payout ratio is presently -278.26%.

About BrightSpire Capital

BrightSpire Capital Inc NYSE: BRSP is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in commercial real estate debt. The company primarily originates, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of mortgage loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments secured by office, retail, industrial, multifamily and hospitality assets across the United States. By focusing on income-producing credit instruments, BrightSpire seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to its shareholders through regular dividend distributions.

BrightSpire’s investment strategy spans the capital structure of commercial real estate, with an emphasis on senior mortgages that offer more stable cash flows and downside protection.

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