Short Interest in Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) Rises By 21.8%

Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 428,600 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the December 15th total of 351,900 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 240,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Bridge Investment Group

In other news, CEO Jonathan Slager sold 11,403 shares of Bridge Investment Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total value of $94,530.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 962,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,978,967.49. This trade represents a 1.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Katherine Elsnab sold 3,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.29, for a total value of $25,516.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 303,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,519,637.73. This represents a 1.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 145,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,966. Insiders own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bridge Investment Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRDG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Bridge Investment Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 55,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Bridge Investment Group by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 171,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 30,620 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Bridge Investment Group by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 114,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,726 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Bridge Investment Group by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Bridge Investment Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 773,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,632,000 after purchasing an additional 8,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRDG. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Bridge Investment Group from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bridge Investment Group from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered Bridge Investment Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Bridge Investment Group from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Bridge Investment Group in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bridge Investment Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.40.

Bridge Investment Group Price Performance

Shares of BRDG opened at $7.89 on Friday. Bridge Investment Group has a one year low of $6.18 and a one year high of $11.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.93 and its 200-day moving average is $8.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $955.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 197.25 and a beta of 1.57.

Bridge Investment Group (NYSE:BRDG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). Bridge Investment Group had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $101.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bridge Investment Group will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Bridge Investment Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Bridge Investment Group’s payout ratio is currently 1,000.25%.

About Bridge Investment Group

Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc engages in the real estate investment management business in the United States. It manages capital on behalf of approximately hundred global institutions and 6,500 individual investors across approximately 25 investment vehicles. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.