Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) Short Interest Up 842.1% in January

Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,900 shares, a growth of 842.1% from the December 31st total of 1,900 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guild

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GHLD. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Guild by 11.9% in the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 653,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,875,000 after purchasing an additional 69,603 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Guild by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 269,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,668 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Guild by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Guild by 8.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guild in the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.52% of the company’s stock.

Guild Stock Down 3.0 %

GHLD opened at $12.49 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $772.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.05, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.00. Guild has a fifty-two week low of $11.21 and a fifty-two week high of $18.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GHLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Guild from $13.00 to $11.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Compass Point upped their target price on Guild from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Guild from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Guild in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Guild Company Profile

Guild Holdings Company originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans in the United States. It operates in two segments, Origination and Servicing. The company offers residential mortgages through retail and correspondent channels. Guild Holdings Company was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.