JMP Securities Cuts Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Price Target to $8.00

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) had its price objective decreased by JMP Securities from $9.00 to $8.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on RWT. StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.84.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:RWT opened at $6.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $839.51 million, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.74 and its 200 day moving average is $7.17. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 6.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.37%. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is 130.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Redwood Trust by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,611,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,945,000 after acquiring an additional 941,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Redwood Trust by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,189,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,116,000 after buying an additional 102,274 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 72,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,038,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,492,000 after acquiring an additional 25,444 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $722,000. 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.