Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) Short Interest Up 13.3% in October

by · The Cerbat Gem

Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 147,600 shares, a growth of 13.3% from the September 30th total of 130,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 117,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BTIG Research started coverage on Great Ajax in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock.

View Our Latest Analysis on Great Ajax

Great Ajax Trading Up 0.6 %

Great Ajax stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.13. The company had a trading volume of 65,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $123.84 million, a P/E ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.44. Great Ajax has a 1 year low of $2.98 and a 1 year high of $6.01.

Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $12.35 million during the quarter. Great Ajax had a negative return on equity of 6.68% and a negative net margin of 181.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS.

Great Ajax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Great Ajax’s payout ratio is -5.96%.

Institutional Trading of Great Ajax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Great Ajax by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,217,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,625,000 after purchasing an additional 114,046 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Great Ajax by 321.3% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 91,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 69,477 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Great Ajax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $98,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 26,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Great Ajax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 58.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Great Ajax

(Get Free Report)

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.

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