Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) Short Interest Up 41.0% in March

Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,220,000 shares, a growth of 41.0% from the March 15th total of 4,410,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Orchid Island Capital Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:ORC opened at $6.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $610.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.87. Orchid Island Capital has a 1 year low of $5.69 and a 1 year high of $9.01.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.08. Sell-side analysts forecast that Orchid Island Capital will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Orchid Island Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 22.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Orchid Island Capital’s payout ratio is presently 240.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orchid Island Capital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORC. State Street Corp raised its position in Orchid Island Capital by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,073,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,952,000 after buying an additional 123,239 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Orchid Island Capital by 409.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 75,557 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Orchid Island Capital by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,650,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,566,000 after buying an additional 421,718 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orchid Island Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Orchid Island Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $152,000. Institutional investors own 32.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Orchid Island Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Orchid Island Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

About Orchid Island Capital

Orchid Island Capital, Inc, a specialty finance company, invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the United States. The company’s RMBS is backed by single-family residential mortgage loans, referred as Agency RMBS. Its portfolio includes traditional pass-through Agency RMBS, such as mortgage pass through certificates and collateralized mortgage obligations; and structured Agency RMBS comprising interest only securities, inverse interest only securities, and principal only securities.