Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.08.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on RWT shares. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Redwood Trust Stock Up 1.2 %

RWT opened at $7.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.71 and a beta of 1.58. Redwood Trust has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $8.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.97, a current ratio of 50.47 and a quick ratio of 50.47.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 4.93% and a net margin of 4.45%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Redwood Trust will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is 971.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Redwood Trust by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 66,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 9.1% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 22,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 7.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 11.3% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 29,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Redwood Trust by 4.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 69,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.