Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) Short Interest Up 22.3% in October

Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 180,500 shares, a growth of 22.3% from the October 15th total of 147,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 118,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Great Ajax Stock Performance

NYSE:AJX traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 201,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,677. The firm has a market cap of $138.08 million, a P/E ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.90. Great Ajax has a fifty-two week low of $2.98 and a fifty-two week high of $6.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.26 and its 200-day moving average is $3.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.26. Great Ajax had a negative return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 203.61%. The business had revenue of $12.35 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Great Ajax will post -2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great Ajax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Great Ajax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -6.37%.

Institutional Trading of Great Ajax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AJX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Great Ajax by 10.3% in the first 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. grew its position in shares of Great Ajax by 321.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 69,477 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Great Ajax during the second quarter worth about $98,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Great Ajax in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.60% of the company’s stock.

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.