Short Interest in Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) Grows By 5.8%

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,290,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the May 31st total of 5,000,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 16.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Claros Mortgage Trust

In related news, CEO Richard Mack purchased 116,000 shares of Claros Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.18 per share, with a total value of $832,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,551,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,322,304.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Richard Mack bought 116,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.18 per share, for a total transaction of $832,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,551,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,322,304.54. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vincent Tese purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.26 per share, with a total value of $36,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,560. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 193,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,140. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Claros Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Claros Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 81,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 7,062 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth $140,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Claros Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $128,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Claros Mortgage Trust by 349.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 8,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Claros Mortgage Trust by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,455,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,810,000 after acquiring an additional 30,377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $9.75 to $9.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. lowered their price objective on Claros Mortgage Trust from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Claros Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:CMTG opened at $8.01 on Thursday. Claros Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $6.80 and a 52 week high of $15.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 26.27 and a current ratio of 26.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 1.52.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The company 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Claros Mortgage Trust will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Claros Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Claros Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is -161.29%.

About Claros Mortgage Trust

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.