Short Interest in Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) Decreases By 21.7%

Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 11,200 shares, a decrease of 21.7% from the February 13th total of 14,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Guild Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Guild stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,599. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $12.77 and a 200-day moving average of $14.12. Guild has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $18.26. The stock has a market cap of $798.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06.

Guild Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Guild’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guild

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guild by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 15,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 2,421 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guild by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 16,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 6,134 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Guild by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guild by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Guild by 419.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 125,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after buying an additional 101,209 shares during the period. 17.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GHLD. Compass Point upped their target price on Guild from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Guild from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Guild has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.60.

About Guild

Guild Holdings Company originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans in the United States. It operates in two segments, Origination and Servicing. The company offers residential mortgages through retail and correspondent channels. Guild Holdings Company was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.