Sage Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 18,817 Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Ladder Capital by 1.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,767,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,505,000 after buying an additional 108,079 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ladder Capital by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,994,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,411,000 after purchasing an additional 54,598 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ladder Capital by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,649,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,743,000 after purchasing an additional 8,178 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ladder Capital by 5.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,020,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,434,000 after purchasing an additional 96,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ladder Capital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,640,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,028,000 after purchasing an additional 15,938 shares in the last quarter. 62.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ladder Capital Trading Up 1.3 %

LADR opened at $11.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 38.96 and a quick ratio of 38.96. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.56. Ladder Capital Corp has a fifty-two week low of $10.20 and a fifty-two week high of $12.48.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.04). Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 21.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Ladder Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LADR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ladder Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ladder Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Ladder Capital from $13.00 to $12.75 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.29.

Ladder Capital Profile

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.