Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) Shares Up 2.8% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:CMTG) were up 2.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $3.85 and last traded at $3.85. Approximately 121,059 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 565,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMTG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Claros Mortgage Trust from $4.00 to $2.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Claros Mortgage Trust from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.31.

Claros Mortgage Trust Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $512.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.09. The company has a current ratio of 25.67, a quick ratio of 20.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Claros Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Richard Mack bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.38 per share, with a total value of $84,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,589,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,754,135.78. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mike Mcgillis purchased 24,115 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.30 per share, for a total transaction of $79,579.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 475,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,618.50. This represents a 5.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 169,115 shares of company stock valued at $547,930 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Claros Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMTG. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust by 15.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,402,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,506,000 after acquiring an additional 188,950 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Claros Mortgage Trust in the third quarter worth $208,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Claros Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $2,552,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Claros Mortgage Trust by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,165,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.