Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,470,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the June 15th total of 5,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 342,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 18.9 days. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $9.75 to $9.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Claros Mortgage Trust from $11.50 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Claros Mortgage Trust news, insider Jeffrey D. Siegel bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.23 per share, with a total value of $36,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 167,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,159.66. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jeffrey D. Siegel purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.23 per share, for a total transaction of $36,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 167,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,159.66. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Mack acquired 116,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.18 per share, with a total value of $832,880.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,551,853 shares in the company, valued at $18,322,304.54. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 193,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,140. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Claros Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMTG. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Claros Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 81,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 7,062 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Claros Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth $140,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the first quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 349.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 8,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Claros Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of CMTG traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.89. The stock had a trading volume of 371,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,994. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.55. Claros Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.80 and a fifty-two week high of $15.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.34 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 26.27 and a current ratio of 26.27.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $58.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.64 million. Claros Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 1.51% and a negative net margin of 28.16%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Claros Mortgage Trust will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Claros Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.25%. Claros Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -161.29%.

Claros Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It focuses on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional commercial real estate assets in the United States. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders.