Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna set a $13.00 price target on Ladder Capital in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ladder Capital in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Capital One Financial set a $13.00 target price on Ladder Capital in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC set a $13.00 price target on Ladder Capital in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Ladder Capital in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.80.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

NYSE:LADR traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.07. 447,754 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 606,558. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.01. Ladder Capital has a 1 year low of $9.68 and a 1 year high of $11.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.06. The company has a quick ratio of 35.60, a current ratio of 35.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $57.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.90 million. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 6.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ladder Capital will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey B. Steiner sold 19,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.89, for a total transaction of $212,148.09. Following the sale, the director owned 27,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $297,416.79. This represents a 41.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ladder Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,493,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,555,000 after acquiring an additional 538,147 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ladder Capital by 3.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,800,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,549,000 after purchasing an additional 96,813 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,676,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,771,000 after purchasing an additional 20,022 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,666,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,090,000 after purchasing an additional 61,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,297,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,157,000 after purchasing an additional 132,679 shares during the period. 62.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE: LADR) is a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company structured as a real estate investment trust. The firm specializes in originating, acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial mortgage loans, subordinate financings such as mezzanine loans and B-notes, and equity investments. In addition to direct lending activities, Ladder Capital invests in and manages commercial mortgage‐backed securities (CMBS) and commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations (CRE CLOs), providing financing across a range of property types including office, retail, multifamily, industrial and hospitality assets.

Since its inception in 2008, Ladder Capital has developed a platform that supports both balance-sheet lending and structured securitization.