Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) Short Interest Up 76.6% in December

Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 112,500 shares, an increase of 76.6% from the December 15th total of 63,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 113,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Lument Finance Trust Price Performance

LFT stock opened at $2.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $136.22 million, a PE ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 6.29, a quick ratio of 6.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.39. Lument Finance Trust has a 12 month low of $2.16 and a 12 month high of $2.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.54.

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The technology company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. Lument Finance Trust had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $28.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lument Finance Trust will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lument Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.82%. Lument Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James cut shares of Lument Finance Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

Institutional Trading of Lument Finance Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the second quarter worth about $54,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lument Finance Trust during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Lument Finance Trust by 72.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,198 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 11,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.45% of the company’s stock.

Lument Finance Trust Company Profile

Lument Finance Trust, Inc, a real estate investment trust, focuses on investing in, financing, and managing a portfolio of commercial real estate (CRE) debt investments in the United States. The company primarily invests in transitional floating rate CRE mortgage loans on middle market multi-family assets; and other CRE -related investments, including mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities, fixed rate loans, construction loans, and other CRE debt instruments.