Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $7.50 to $8.50. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Redwood Trust traded as high as $8.15 and last traded at $8.04, with a volume of 35803 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.99.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JMP Securities raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,798,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,325,000 after purchasing an additional 127,435 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 24,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 82,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.64. The company has a current ratio of 50.47, a quick ratio of 50.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.97. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.29 and a beta of 1.58.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.58%. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently 914.29%.

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.