Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) to Underweight

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $8.00 price target on the stock.

CMTG has been the topic of a number of other reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Claros Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.50 to $8.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Claros Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $8.75.

Claros Mortgage Trust Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of CMTG opened at $8.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.97 and a beta of 1.49. Claros Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $6.80 and a 52 week high of $15.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 28.19 and a current ratio of 28.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.40 and a 200-day moving average of $8.57.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $64.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.25 million. Claros Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 35.47% and a positive return on equity of 3.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Claros Mortgage Trust will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Claros Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Claros Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -64.52%.

Institutional Trading of Claros Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Claros Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Claros Mortgage Trust by 349.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 8,472 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 32.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the second quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $128,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Claros Mortgage Trust

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It focuses on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional commercial real estate assets in the United States. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders.