Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (NYSE:LFT) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lument Finance Trust Stock Up 2.4 %

LFT traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.52. The company had a trading volume of 76,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,029. The company has a market capitalization of $131.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 5.78, a current ratio of 6.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.39. Lument Finance Trust has a 52 week low of $2.00 and a 52 week high of $2.75.

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $9.06 million. Lument Finance Trust had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 14.41%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lument Finance Trust will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lument Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lument Finance Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lument Finance Trust by 8.9% during the first 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 during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lument Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Lument Finance Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Lument Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 39,396 shares in the last quarter. 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.