Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) Short Interest Update

Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 18,841,769 shares, an increase of 59.7% from the March 15th total of 11,798,603 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,635,505 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 9.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Orchid Island Capital from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Orchid Island Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Orchid Island Capital has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orchid Island Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ORC. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Orchid Island Capital during the 1st quarter worth $84,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Orchid Island Capital by 234.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,036,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 726,907 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Orchid Island Capital during the 1st quarter worth $111,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Orchid Island Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Orchid Island Capital by 1,421.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 100,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 94,190 shares during the last quarter. 32.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Orchid Island Capital Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE ORC opened at $7.36 on Thursday. Orchid Island Capital has a 12 month low of $6.26 and a 12 month high of $8.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.39. The company has a current ratio of 509.34, a quick ratio of 509.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $124.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.74 million. On average, analysts predict that Orchid Island Capital will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orchid Island Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Orchid Island Capital’s payout ratio is presently 138.46%.

About Orchid Island Capital

Orchid Island Capital is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage‐backed securities (RMBS), with a primary focus on mortgage pass‐through securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). Structured to elect and maintain status as a REIT under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, the company’s principal business strategy involves acquiring pools of U.S. residential mortgages in the secondary market and holding them to generate interest income.