Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Given New $8.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $7.50 to $8.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James upped their price target 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. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.19.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Redwood Trust stock opened at $7.68 on Thursday. Redwood Trust has a 1-year low of $5.45 and a 1-year high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.97, a current ratio of 50.47 and a quick ratio of 50.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.71 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.52 and its 200 day moving average is $6.85.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 4.93%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Redwood Trust will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 971.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Redwood Trust by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Redwood Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $69,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Redwood Trust in the 1st quarter worth $72,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 26.5% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 14,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

About Redwood Trust

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.