Activist investor Palogic Value Fund has urged Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. to halt new lending and implement sweeping cost cuts, citing prolonged declines in the company’s financial position and asset quality.
In a letter to Granite Point’s board, Palogic, which holds more than one million shares in the NYSE-listed real estate investment trust, highlighted a 67% drop in GAAP book value per share to $5.70 as of June 30, 2026, from $17.27 at the same point in 2021. The company’s stock closed at $1.19 on the Friday prior to publication, trading at roughly 21% of reported book value.
Palogic also pointed to a contraction in total assets from $3.9 billion to $1.4 billion over the same five-year period, alongside a decline in net interest income from $22.7 million to $4.7 million. Compensation and benefits costs have risen to an annualized 1.3% of assets, up from 0.51% in 2021, with quarterly expenses totaling $4.3 million against a $1.4 billion asset base.
The activist cited significant credit deterioration across Granite Point’s commercial real estate portfolio, particularly in hotel, mixed-use and multifamily properties. It noted that specific CECL reserves for the five highest-risk loans stood at 47.4% as of the second quarter of 2026.
Palogic recommended that Granite Point accelerate the resolution of legacy assets through loan payoffs and sales, reduce servicing and corporate costs, and suspend new loan originations. The investor proposed allocating proceeds from portfolio runoff toward debt retirement rather than reinvestment in new lending activities.
