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

Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.6250.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on STWD shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 250,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 20,703 shares during the period. Grassi Investment Management lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 168.1% during the 2nd quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 95,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $516,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 124.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,102,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,060,000 after purchasing an additional 611,303 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.9% in the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382,338 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,744,000 after purchasing an additional 25,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Starwood Property Trust stock opened at $18.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.14. Starwood Property Trust has a 1-year low of $16.59 and a 1-year high of $21.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.31 and its 200 day moving average is $19.47.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $247.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 182.86%.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.