Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on LADR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ladder Capital from $11.75 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Ladder Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ladder Capital presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

Ladder Capital stock opened at $10.71 on Tuesday. Ladder Capital has a one year low of $9.68 and a one year high of $12.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 31.28 and a current ratio of 31.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.92. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 1.09.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 20.05%.The company had revenue of $56.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ladder Capital will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.6%. Ladder Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark David Alexander sold 26,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total value of $290,993.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $317,426.94. This represents a 47.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 91,382 shares of company stock valued at $1,003,501 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Ladder Capital during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Ladder Capital during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 192.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 138.6% during the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 8,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Ladder Capital during the second quarter valued at about $108,000. Institutional investors own 62.25% of the company’s stock.

Ladder Capital Company Profile

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.