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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AJX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Great Ajax in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Great Ajax from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered shares of Great Ajax from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AJX. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 38,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 10,566 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Great Ajax during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $536,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 165,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. 58.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Great Ajax Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE:AJX opened at $3.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $99.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.84 and a beta of 1.87. Great Ajax has a 52 week low of $3.30 and a 52 week high of $7.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.81.

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

Great Ajax Cuts Dividend

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

About Great Ajax

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.