Investors Purchase High Volume of Starwood Property Trust Call Options (NYSE:STWD)

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 6,925 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 298% compared to the average daily volume of 1,742 call options.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:STWD traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.27. The stock had a trading volume of 965,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,747. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.60. Starwood Property Trust has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $21.05. The firm has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $247.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.70 million. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 8.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STWD has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.63.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.