Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,858,438 shares, a growth of 31.1% from the March 15th total of 1,417,587 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 219,024 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LFT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lument Finance Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lument Finance Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell”.

Lument Finance Trust Trading Up 1.9%

LFT traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.32. The stock had a trading volume of 67,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.11, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.03. Lument Finance Trust has a 52 week low of $1.18 and a 52 week high of $2.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.91 million, a P/E ratio of -9.39 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.47.

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 23rd. The technology company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of ($3.92) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.78 million. Lument Finance Trust had a negative net margin of 3.47% and a positive return on equity of 7.21%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lument Finance Trust will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Lument Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.2%. Lument Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -114.29%.

Institutional Trading of Lument Finance Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LFT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Lument Finance Trust by 302.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,987 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 24,782 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Lument Finance Trust by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 454,684 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 18,122 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Lument Finance Trust by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 51,170 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 16,179 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $139,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lument Finance Trust by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 112,804 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 46,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.45% of the company’s stock.

Lument Finance Trust Company Profile

Lument Finance Trust is a real estate investment trust that focuses on originating and acquiring senior secured loans backed by commercial real estate properties. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker LFT, the company seeks to generate attractive risk‐adjusted returns by targeting floating‐rate, first‐mortgage loans across a broad range of property types, including multifamily, office, retail, industrial and hospitality.

The firm’s core business activity centers on deploying capital into short‐ and medium‐term financing solutions for institutional real estate owners and developers.