Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.20.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $20.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Monday, August 17th.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STWD opened at $15.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.98. Starwood Property Trust has a 52 week low of $15.51 and a 52 week high of $20.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.47 and a 200 day moving average of $17.20.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.35%.The firm had revenue of $201.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $521.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 325.42%.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Starwood Property Trust by 154.4% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 293.2% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 169.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

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.