Rithm Capital Corp. (NYSE:RITM) Short Interest Up 173.9% in March

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 173.9% in March to 35,218,399 shares (about 6.4% of the stock), giving a short-interest ratio of 1.7 days based on average daily volume.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annualized $1.00) with an annual yield of 10.1%, an ex-dividend date of April 6, and a payout ratio of about 96%.
• Rithm beat recent expectations with EPS of $0.74 versus $0.55 and $1.29B in revenue, trades at a P/E of 9.53 with a $5.51B market cap, and holds a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $14.06 target.

Rithm Capital Corp. (NYSE:RITM - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 35,218,399 shares, a growth of 173.9% from the March 15th total of 12,858,042 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 20,426,664 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Rithm Capital by 86.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 326,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,718,000 after acquiring an additional 151,733 shares in the last quarter. Waterfall Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rithm Capital by 169.7% during the third quarter. Waterfall Asset Management LLC now owns 360,573 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,115,000 after purchasing an additional 226,859 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Rithm Capital during the third quarter worth about $1,519,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rithm Capital by 246.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 433,567 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,938,000 after purchasing an additional 308,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Rithm Capital by 108.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 188,633 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 98,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.92% of the company's stock.

Rithm Capital Stock Performance

RITM stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.92. 4,307,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,092,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.75. Rithm Capital has a one year low of $8.43 and a one year high of $12.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.19.

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.19. Rithm Capital had a return on equity of 19.74% and a net margin of 15.55%.The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Rithm Capital will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Rithm Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Rithm Capital's payout ratio is 96.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RITM. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Rithm Capital from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Rithm Capital in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Rithm Capital in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Rithm Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rithm Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.06.

Rithm Capital Company Profile

Rithm Capital Corporation is a specialty finance company that originates, acquires and manages structured credit investments collateralized by real estate assets in the United States. The company focuses primarily on senior floating-rate loans secured by multifamily, commercial, industrial and single-family rental properties, aiming to deliver attractive risk-adjusted yields through a diversified portfolio of floating-rate real estate debt.

In addition to senior loans, Rithm Capital invests in residential mortgage-backed securities, including agency and non-agency pools, as well as other real estate-related credit instruments.

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