Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Stock Price

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $20.50 to $20.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.48% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.13.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 0.3%

STWD opened at $17.94 on Monday. Starwood Property Trust has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $21.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 1.10.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.01. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 22.32% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $492.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,976,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $638,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,085 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Starwood Property Trust by 194.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 207,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,137,000 after purchasing an additional 137,294 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 124.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,102,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,060,000 after buying an additional 611,303 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 492,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,888,000 after buying an additional 50,247 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,382,338 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,744,000 after buying an additional 25,624 shares during the last quarter. 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.