Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) Short Interest Down 38.6% in October

Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 81,500 shares, a decline of 38.6% from the October 15th total of 132,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 84,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lument Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of LFT stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.52. The stock had a trading volume of 76,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,029. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.50. Lument Finance Trust has a one year low of $2.00 and a one year high of $2.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.39, a current ratio of 6.29 and a quick ratio of 5.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Lument Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.70%. Lument Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lument Finance Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lument Finance Trust by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,557,677 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 127,887 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lument Finance Trust by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 438,953 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 11,718 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lument Finance Trust by 110.7% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 39,396 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Lument Finance Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.45% of the company’s stock.

About Lument Finance Trust

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.