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

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.70.

A number of analysts have weighed in on STWD shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 1.3%

STWD opened at $16.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Starwood Property Trust has a 12-month low of $16.76 and a 12-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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $205.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.25 million. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The company’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Starwood Property Trust announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starwood Property Trust

In other Starwood Property Trust news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total transaction of $120,132.69. Following the sale, the director directly owned 168,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,880,443.76. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STWD. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 106.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 154.4% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.