Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.75.

RWT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Redwood Trust stock opened at $6.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $834.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $6.44 and its 200-day moving average is $6.96. The company has a current ratio of 44.36, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.09. Redwood Trust has a 12 month low of $5.46 and a 12 month high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $27.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.00 million. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 9.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.44%. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 218.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,611,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,945,000 after purchasing an additional 941,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 641,410 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,188,000 after buying an additional 18,164 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 4.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

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.