Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, an increase of 19.1% from the February 13th total of 3,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Orchid Island Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Orchid Island Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Orchid Island Capital by 385.2% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 98,723 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Orchid Island Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Orchid Island Capital by 274.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 586,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,819,000 after purchasing an additional 429,689 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Orchid Island Capital by 22.9% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 114,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 21,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Orchid Island Capital by 29.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares in the last quarter. 32.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Orchid Island Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ORC stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $8.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,298,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,962,232. The firm has a market capitalization of $768.28 million, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.90. Orchid Island Capital has a one year low of $7.41 and a one year high of $9.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.06.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.08. On average, research analysts anticipate that Orchid Island Capital will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orchid Island Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Orchid Island Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 240.00%.

Orchid Island Capital Company Profile

Orchid Island Capital, Inc, a specialty finance company, invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the United States. The company’s RMBS is backed by single-family residential mortgage loans, referred as Agency RMBS. Its portfolio includes traditional pass-through Agency RMBS, such as mortgage pass through certificates and collateralized mortgage obligations; and structured Agency RMBS comprising interest only securities, inverse interest only securities, and principal only securities.