BrightSpire Capital, Inc. (NYSE:BRSP) Short Interest Up 39.0% in February

BrightSpire Capital, Inc. (NYSE:BRSP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, an increase of 39.0% from the February 13th total of 798,500 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 698,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Trading of BrightSpire Capital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in BrightSpire Capital by 329.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 198,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 152,131 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in BrightSpire Capital by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 193,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 31,865 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BrightSpire Capital by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,082,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,267,000 after acquiring an additional 14,606 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in BrightSpire Capital by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 7,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in BrightSpire Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.57% of the company’s stock.

BrightSpire Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRSP traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.00. 464,951 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 718,098. BrightSpire Capital has a 52-week low of $5.07 and a 52-week high of $7.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.84 and a 200-day moving average of $5.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.46 million, a P/E ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 1.98.

BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $17.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.81 million. BrightSpire Capital had a positive return on equity of 8.82% and a negative net margin of 79.23%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that BrightSpire Capital will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BrightSpire Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.68%. BrightSpire Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -60.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRSP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley cut their price objective on BrightSpire Capital from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on BrightSpire Capital in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $7.25 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.69.

About BrightSpire Capital

BrightSpire Capital, Inc operates as a commercial real estate (CRE) credit real estate investment trust in the United States and Europe. The company operates through Senior and Mezzanine Loans and Preferred Equity; Net Leased and Other Real Estate; and Corporate and Other segments. It focuses on originating, acquiring, financing, and managing a diversified portfolio of CRE debt investments consisting of first mortgage loans, senior loans, debt securities, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity investments, as well as net leased properties.