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

Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.70.

STWD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Activity at Starwood Property Trust

In other news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of Starwood Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,880,443.76. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 106.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Down 1.1%

STWD stock opened at $16.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.00. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.02. Starwood Property Trust has a twelve month low of $16.82 and a twelve month high of $21.05.

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

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

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

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.