Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) Short Interest Update

Great Ajax Corp. (NYSE:AJX) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 229,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 207,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 180,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Great Ajax

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AJX. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Great Ajax in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Simplex Trading LLC grew its holdings in Great Ajax by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 5,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Great Ajax by 194.1% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3,205 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Great Ajax during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Great Ajax by 903.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 11,081 shares during the last quarter. 58.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities cut shares of Great Ajax from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Great Ajax in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Great Ajax from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th.

Great Ajax Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of AJX stock opened at $3.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $102.70 million, a P/E ratio of -1.90 and a beta of 1.87. Great Ajax has a 52 week low of $3.30 and a 52 week high of $7.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.85.

Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $17.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.65 million. Analysts predict that Great Ajax will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Ajax Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.70%. Great Ajax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -20.30%.

Great Ajax Company Profile

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.