Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Jones Trading cut their target price on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Redwood Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Redwood Trust has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RWT opened at $5.86 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $741.71 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.73, a current ratio of 57.77 and a quick ratio of 57.77. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $4.68 and a fifty-two week high of $6.73.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $54.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 million. Redwood Trust had a positive return on equity of 9.19% and a negative net margin of 8.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 23rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is currently -88.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RWT. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 270.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 4,503 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Redwood Trust by 331.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 6,082 shares during the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Redwood Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Redwood Trust by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 4,611 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 136.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 6,255 shares during the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Redwood Trust

Redwood Trust, Inc (NYSE:RWT) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the U.S. residential mortgage market. Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company focuses on investing in a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, including whole loans, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, and structured credit products.

The company’s core activities encompass the acquisition, financing, and management of prime residential mortgage whole loans and mortgage-backed securities.