Creative Planning Acquires Shares of 11,800 Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evanson Asset Management LLC raised its position in Redwood Trust by 16.7% during the third quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 65.4% during the third 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. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 33,976 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of RWT stock opened at $7.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.75, a current ratio of 50.47 and a quick ratio of 50.47. The company has a market capitalization of $934.80 million, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.02. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.45 and a 12 month high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently 123.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on RWT shares. Wedbush increased their target price on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.19.

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.