Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc . (NYSE:GPMT) has announced a significant grant of restricted stock units (RSUs) to its executive officers and certain employees as part of an effort to align their interests with those of the company's stockholders. The grant, made on Thursday, June 21, 2024, by the Compensation Committee of the company's Board of Directors, will fully vest on the third anniversary of the grant date, subject to specific terms and conditions.
The RSUs were allotted under the Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. 2022 Omnibus Incentive Plan. The number of RSUs awarded to the named executive officers includes 256,410 RSUs to CEO John ("Jack") A. Taylor, and 160,256 RSUs each to Stephen Alpart and Marcin Urbaszek. Additionally, Peter Morral and Steven Plust each received 80,128 RSUs. The grant was calculated based on the average closing share price of the company's common stock over the 20-trading day period ending on June 18, 2024, which was $3.12.
The total number of RSUs granted on June 21 for executive officers is 737,178, with an additional 588,141 RSUs for other employees, culminating in a total of 1,325,319 RSUs. This move follows a review of the company's compensation program by the Committee with the assistance of an independent compensation consultant. The review was conducted in response to the unique challenges faced by the commercial real estate sector.
The Committee decided that the one-time award of RSUs would be an effective strategy to further align executive and employee interests with those of the stockholders, as well as to enhance the company's ability to retain key personnel during a challenging period for the industry.
Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc., based in New York, is a Maryland-incorporated company specializing in real estate investment trusts. The information for this report is based on a statement from a press release.
In other recent news, Granite Point Mortgage Trust reported a GAAP net loss of $77.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, including a $75.6 million provision for credit losses. Amid challenging market conditions, the company is actively seeking to resolve high-risk loans, with a target of $150-200 million of risk-rated 5 loans, through strategies such as property sales and loan restructurings. Despite the losses, Granite Point maintains strong liquidity with over $155 million in unrestricted cash.
The company's total leverage rose to 2.3 times in Q1, and the CECL reserve at quarter-end was about $213 million. With an increase in the portfolio's weighted average risk rating to 3.0 due to office leasing challenges, Granite Point is focusing on asset management, reducing leverage, and maintaining liquidity. Market sentiment and activity are expected to improve later in the year according to the company's outlook. These are recent developments related to Granite Point's financial performance and strategic initiatives.
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