Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,923,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 116,708 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.52% of Ladder Capital worth $21,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 7.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ladder Capital by 0.5% in the second quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 276,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,124,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ladder Capital by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ladder Capital by 12.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 27,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 3,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ladder Capital by 0.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 824,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,178,000 after buying an additional 3,562 shares in the last quarter. 62.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ladder Capital

In related news, President Pamela Mccormack sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total transaction of $612,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 548,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,723,571.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 12.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LADR opened at $12.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 76.87 and a current ratio of 76.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.21. Ladder Capital Corp has a fifty-two week low of $9.08 and a fifty-two week high of $12.48.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $71.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.22 million. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Ladder Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LADR shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ladder Capital from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ladder Capital in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Ladder Capital from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $13.50 target price on shares of Ladder Capital in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ladder Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.33.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.