Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 15,899,417 shares, a growth of 32.2% from the December 15th total of 12,022,517 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,457,186 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,457,186 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Orchid Island Capital by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,917,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537,126 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Orchid Island Capital by 170.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,282,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,990,000 after buying an additional 807,442 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Orchid Island Capital by 234.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,036,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,794,000 after buying an additional 726,907 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Orchid Island Capital by 1,338.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 701,837 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,920,000 after buying an additional 653,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Orchid Island Capital by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,870,889 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,125,000 after acquiring an additional 578,672 shares in the last quarter. 32.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Orchid Island Capital Price Performance

ORC stock traded up $0.22 on Monday, reaching $8.34. 7,184,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,185,820. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 1.67. Orchid Island Capital has a 12 month low of $5.68 and a 12 month high of $9.01.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $77.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.33 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Orchid Island Capital will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orchid Island Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 17.3%. Orchid Island Capital’s payout ratio is currently 293.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORC. Wall Street Zen raised Orchid Island Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Compass Point assumed coverage on Orchid Island Capital in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $7.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Orchid Island Capital in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Orchid Island Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

Orchid Island Capital Company Profile

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.