Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Price Target Cut to $8.00 by Analysts at JMP Securities

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.84.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RWT opened at $6.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36. The company has a market capitalization of $835.54 million, a PE ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.77 and a 200-day moving average of $7.17. Redwood Trust has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 9.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.42%. This is an increase from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is 130.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Redwood Trust by 6.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,611,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,945,000 after buying an additional 941,223 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,189,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,116,000 after purchasing an additional 102,274 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 25,444 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,113,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,608,000 after purchasing an additional 207,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFC Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Redwood Trust by 127.7% in the third quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 484,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 271,975 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.