Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.84.

Several analysts have weighed in on RWT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Redwood Trust by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,611,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,945,000 after acquiring an additional 941,223 shares in the last quarter. NFC Investments LLC raised its stake in Redwood Trust by 127.7% during the third quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 484,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,749,000 after acquiring an additional 271,975 shares in the last quarter. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Redwood Trust during the fourth quarter worth $1,726,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its stake in Redwood Trust by 22.8% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,113,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,608,000 after acquiring an additional 207,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,085,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,089,000 after buying an additional 165,281 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Trading Up 0.7 %

RWT opened at $6.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.67 million, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a current ratio of 44.36 and a quick ratio of 44.36. Redwood Trust has a 12-month low of $5.45 and a 12-month high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.91%.

About Redwood Trust

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.