Blair William & Co. IL Raises Stock Holdings in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. $STWD

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 647,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 173,462 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.18% of Starwood Property Trust worth $12,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,976,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $638,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,085 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 194.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 124.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,102,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,060,000 after purchasing an additional 611,303 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 25,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 11.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

STWD opened at $17.96 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.10. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.59 and a 52-week high of $21.05.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 165.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on STWD shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.90.

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.