Short Interest in NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:NREF) Expands By 45.0%

NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:NREF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 530,688 shares, an increase of 45.0% from the February 26th total of 365,955 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 65,425 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

NexPoint Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NREF stock traded up $0.60 on Monday, reaching $13.47. The stock had a trading volume of 51,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,590. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 175.70 and a current ratio of 175.70. NexPoint Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $12.14 and a 1 year high of $16.06. The stock has a market cap of $238.63 million, a P/E ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.19.

NexPoint Real Estate Finance (NYSE:NREF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. NexPoint Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 15.63% and a net margin of 122.60%.The company had revenue of $33.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.64 million. NexPoint Real Estate Finance has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.360 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that NexPoint Real Estate Finance will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

NexPoint Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.9%. NexPoint Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NREF. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in NexPoint Real Estate Finance by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,439,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,910,000 after acquiring an additional 852,271 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NexPoint Real Estate Finance by 200.2% in the 3rd quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 75,918 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in NexPoint Real Estate Finance by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 157,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,220,000 after buying an additional 46,679 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in NexPoint Real Estate Finance by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 96,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 29,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in NexPoint Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,000. 67.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NREF. Zacks Research downgraded NexPoint Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NexPoint Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of NexPoint Real Estate Finance in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of NexPoint Real Estate Finance from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

NexPoint Real Estate Finance Company Profile

NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on originating, acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments. The company seeks to generate current income and capital appreciation by providing financing solutions across the capital structure for stabilized and transitional properties. Its investments include whole loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other structured credit products secured by multifamily, office, industrial, retail and hospitality assets.

Since its initial public offering in March 2021, NexPoint Real Estate Finance has closed numerous transactions with borrowers nationwide, including both institutional sponsors and privately held owners.