Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $3.42, but opened at $3.67. Claros Mortgage Trust shares last traded at $3.86, with a volume of 261,768 shares traded.

Specifically, CEO Richard Mack purchased 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.19 per share, for a total transaction of $366,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,564,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,182,289.39. This trade represents a 4.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Claros Mortgage Trust from $4.00 to $2.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.31.

Claros Mortgage Trust Stock Up 12.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 25.67 and a quick ratio of 20.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.49. The stock has a market cap of $534.46 million, a P/E ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.62.

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.03. Claros Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 89.07% and a positive return on equity of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $60.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.07 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Claros Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,374,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 24,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 7,999 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 135,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 37,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Claros Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.