Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. $GPMT

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 29.9%, selling 171,426 shares to hold 402,792 shares valued at approximately $1,047,000.
• Wall Street analysts have shown a cautious optimism, with ratings upgrades from "sell" to "hold" and price target increases from $2.25 to $2.75, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold" for GPMT.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, yielding 6.9%, despite a negative dividend payout ratio of -9.43%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,792 shares of the company's stock after selling 171,426 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.83% of Granite Point Mortgage Trust worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth $130,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 368.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 11,833 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 229.4% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 37,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $443,000. Institutional investors own 51.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Granite Point Mortgage Trust

In other news, Director Lazar Nikolic purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.61 per share, for a total transaction of $58,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,193 shares in the company, valued at $82,224.73. This represents a 251.47% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GPMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $2.25 to $2.75 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $3.25 to $3.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $3.13.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of GPMT traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $3.02. The stock had a trading volume of 285,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,146. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.50. Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.61 and a 12-month high of $3.66.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently -9.43%.

About Granite Point Mortgage Trust

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.