Short Interest in Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Rises By 86.0%

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 86% in March to 254,212 shares (about 0.6% of shares), yielding a short-interest ratio of 1.3 days based on average daily volume.
• GPMT trades around $1.36 with a market cap of $64.4M; it reported a quarterly EPS loss of ($0.06) that beat estimates but remains unprofitable with negative ROE and net margin, and analysts forecast a full-year EPS of -2.75.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 (annualized yield ~14.8%), while analyst coverage is mixed with a consensus "Hold" and $2.68 target, and institutional investors own about 51.6% of the stock.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 254,212 shares, a growth of 86.0% from the March 15th total of 136,643 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 195,453 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of GPMT stock opened at $1.36 on Monday. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $1.24 and a 52-week high of $3.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.44 million, a P/E ratio of -1.17 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.29.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.10. Granite Point Mortgage Trust had a negative return on equity of 15.52% and a negative net margin of 31.24%.The firm had revenue of $10.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.22 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Granite Point Mortgage Trust will post -2.75 EPS for the current year.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.8%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust's payout ratio is -17.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Point Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 265,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 39,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 187,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Granite Point Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 68.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 21,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 8,658 shares in the last quarter. 51.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GPMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $2.75 to $2.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Compass Point set a $2.05 price objective on Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Granite Point Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Granite Point Mortgage Trust to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Point Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.68.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Granite Point Mortgage Trust, Inc is a specialty finance company that invests directly in commercial real estate debt. The company focuses on originating, acquiring and managing senior preferred and mezzanine loans secured by income-producing real estate across diverse property types, including multifamily, office, industrial and retail assets. Granite Point Mortgage Trust operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT), providing investors with exposure to floating-rate commercial mortgage loan investments.

Granite Point's investment strategy centers on structuring loans to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns, with portfolio allocations spanning senior loans, B-notes and mezzanine financings.

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