Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Price Target Lowered to $19.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on 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. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.80.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 1.1%

STWD stock opened at $17.95 on Thursday. Starwood Property Trust has a 1-year low of $16.90 and a 1-year high of $21.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.16.

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

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Starwood Property Trust declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Starwood Property Trust

In other news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total transaction of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 168,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,880,443.76. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STWD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $75,177,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,702,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,690,000 after buying an additional 2,263,856 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,193,085 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter worth $20,457,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 164,844.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 880,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,863,000 after buying an additional 880,268 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.