AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Short Interest Update

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 703,441 shares, an increase of 59.3% from the July 30th total of 441,514 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 395,298 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Stock Performance

NYSE MITT opened at $6.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 10.33, a current ratio of 10.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.56. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a twelve month low of $5.93 and a twelve month high of $9.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.61.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $23.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.13 million. AG Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 8.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that AG Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.5%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 129.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AG Mortgage Investment Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 105.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Odyssean LLC raised its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 220.2% during the second quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 101,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 69,639 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AG Mortgage Investment Trust in the first quarter valued at $149,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 23.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 7,968 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 3.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 305,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 10,255 shares during the last quarter. 27.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MITT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JonesTrading lowered their price objective on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AG Mortgage Investment Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.93.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Company Profile

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).