Wall Street Zen Upgrades Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) to “Hold”

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of STWD stock opened at $16.97 on Friday. Starwood Property Trust has a 12-month low of $16.29 and a 12-month high of $20.84. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The firm 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%. Starwood Property Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 882,760.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 112,176,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,931,676,000 after acquiring an additional 112,163,596 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,406,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,453,000 after purchasing an additional 148,740 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,387,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,353,000 after purchasing an additional 64,178 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $75,177,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Starwood Property Trust by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,702,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,690,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263,856 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Starwood Property Trust

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.