Wells Fargo & Company Raises Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Price Target to $8.50

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $7.50 to $8.50 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RWT. Raymond James upped their price objective on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their target price on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $8.08.

Redwood Trust Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE RWT opened at $7.93 on Friday. Redwood Trust has a 12-month low of $5.45 and a 12-month high of $8.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.29 and a beta of 1.58. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.65.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Redwood Trust will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 971.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Redwood Trust by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 66,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 24,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Redwood Trust by 9.1% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 22,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Redwood Trust by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Redwood Trust by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.