Short Interest in AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Rises By 25.7%

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 475,045 shares, a growth of 25.7% from the March 15th total of 377,944 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 311,395 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MITT. Angelo Gordon & CO. L.P. lifted its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 703.3% during the third quarter. Angelo Gordon & CO. L.P. now owns 2,315,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,676 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 5.0% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 306,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 14,700 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in AG Mortgage Investment Trust during the third quarter worth $100,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 173.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $122,000. 27.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Price Performance

Shares of MITT stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.80. The company had a trading volume of 70,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.38, a quick ratio of 10.33 and a current ratio of 10.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.89 and a 200-day moving average of $8.03. The company has a market capitalization of $247.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.69. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a 12-month low of $6.03 and a 12-month high of $9.27.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.16 million. AG Mortgage Investment Trust had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 14.42%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AG Mortgage Investment Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.3%. This is a boost from AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MITT. JonesTrading increased their price target on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (up from $9.00) on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.50 to $9.25 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.25.

About AG Mortgage Investment Trust

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc is a publicly traded, closed-end management investment company that primarily focuses on investing in U.S. residential mortgage assets. The firm seeks to generate current income for its shareholders by acquiring a diversified portfolio of mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. As an externally managed mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT), AG Mortgage Investment Trust aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through active portfolio management and interest rate hedging strategies.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans, including so-called “jumbo” prime ARMs, as well as Agency and non-Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).