Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 18,499 Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 659,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,499 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Redwood Trust worth $4,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RWT. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,707,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,561,000 after buying an additional 206,698 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Redwood Trust by 150.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,995,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,050 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,994,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,023,000 after buying an additional 321,612 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,726,253 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,272,000 after buying an additional 169,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Redwood Trust by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,569,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,248,000 after buying an additional 197,719 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RWT opened at $6.09 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.78 and a 200-day moving average of $6.03. The company has a market capitalization of $810.04 million, a PE ratio of 27.66 and a beta of 1.30. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $4.68 and a one year high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.32, a quick ratio of 39.35 and a current ratio of 39.35.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 3.93%. The business had revenue of $73.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.55 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 327.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RWT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Redwood Trust from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Redwood Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.39.

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.