Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) Short Interest Update

Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 229,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 207,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 180,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Great Ajax Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AJX opened at $3.63 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.81. Great Ajax has a one year low of $3.30 and a one year high of $7.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.68 million, a PE ratio of -1.84 and a beta of 1.87.

Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $17.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.65 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Great Ajax will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Ajax Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Great Ajax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -20.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Ajax

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJX. Beach Point Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Great Ajax in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,051,000. EMG Holdings L.P. raised its stake in Great Ajax by 608.3% in the fourth quarter. EMG Holdings L.P. now owns 1,940,649 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,285,000 after buying an additional 1,666,666 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Great Ajax by 3.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,378,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,450,000 after buying an additional 41,838 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Great Ajax by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,103,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,847,000 after acquiring an additional 18,421 shares during the period. Finally, Almitas Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Great Ajax by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 807,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 87,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AJX. StockNews.com lowered Great Ajax from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. JMP Securities cut Great Ajax from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Great Ajax in a research report on Thursday, March 21st.

Great Ajax Company Profile

Great Ajax Corp. operates as a mortgage real estate investment trust. It acquires re-performing and non-performing loans; acquires or originates small balance commercial mortgage loans that are secured by multi-family residential and commercial mixed use retail/residential properties; and invests in single-family and smaller commercial properties.