Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) Short Interest Up 7.5% in April

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE:GPMT) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 510,300 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the March 31st total of 474,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 420,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPMT. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Raymond James cut their price target on Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities lowered Granite Point Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Granite Point Mortgage Trust from $5.00 to $4.75 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,022,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 181,062 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 367.4% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 972,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,746,000 after purchasing an additional 764,665 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 754,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 129,800 shares during the last quarter. Epiq Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Epiq Partners LLC now owns 642,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,815,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relative Value Partners Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Granite Point Mortgage Trust by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Relative Value Partners Group LLC now owns 616,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,664,000 after purchasing an additional 65,057 shares during the last quarter. 51.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:GPMT opened at $4.32 on Thursday. Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $3.97 and a 12 month high of $6.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.05. The firm has a market cap of $219.16 million, a P/E ratio of -2.88 and a beta of 1.80.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.90%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -40.00%.

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.