Short Interest in Dynex Capital, Inc. (NYSE:DX) Rises By 16.3%

Dynex Capital, Inc. (NYSE:DX) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,580,000 shares, a growth of 16.3% from the October 15th total of 4,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dynex Capital in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Dynex Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.35.

Dynex Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DX traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,942,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,556,386. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.28. The company has a market capitalization of $984.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Dynex Capital has a 1 year low of $11.11 and a 1 year high of $13.13.

Dynex Capital (NYSE:DX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $83.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 million. Dynex Capital had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a net margin of 28.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.28) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dynex Capital will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Dynex Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Dynex Capital’s previous monthly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.49%. Dynex Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dynex Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dynex Capital by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,701,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,718,000 after purchasing an additional 253,660 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Dynex Capital by 833.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 218,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after buying an additional 195,400 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Dynex Capital by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,550,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,977,000 after buying an additional 44,302 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Dynex Capital in the third quarter worth about $914,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Dynex Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $321,000. 38.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Dynex Capital

Dynex Capital, Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, invests in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on a leveraged basis in the United States. It invests in agency and non-agency MBS consisting of residential MBS, commercial MBS (CMBS), and CMBS interest-only securities. Agency MBS have a guaranty of principal payment by an agency of the U.S.