Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.70.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starwood Property Trust news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of Starwood Property Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total transaction of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 168,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,880,443.76. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STWD. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 882,760.9% during the first quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 112,176,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,931,676,000 after buying an additional 112,163,596 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $75,177,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,702,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,856 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,976,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $638,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,085 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $20,457,000. 49.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of STWD opened at $17.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.64 and its 200 day moving average is $17.99. Starwood Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.81 and a fifty-two week high of $21.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business had revenue of $205.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 200.00%.

Starwood Property Trust declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that specializes in originating, acquiring and managing commercial mortgage loans and other real estate-related investments. The company’s portfolio spans a variety of asset classes, including senior mortgages, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and direct equity investments in commercial properties. By focusing on both debt and equity capital solutions, Starwood Property Trust seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

Operating primarily in the United States, Starwood Property Trust deploys capital across a broad range of property types, such as multifamily residential, office, retail, hotel and industrial.