Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.9583.

RWT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Redwood Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JonesTrading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.25 price objective on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $5.75 to $7.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th.

Redwood Trust Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:RWT opened at $5.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.34, a current ratio of 55.15 and a quick ratio of 55.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.67. Redwood Trust has a 1-year low of $4.68 and a 1-year high of $6.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $704.31 million, a P/E ratio of -9.24 and a beta of 1.55.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). Redwood Trust had a negative net margin of 5.93% and a positive return on equity of 12.00%. The business had revenue of $140.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.88 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.8%. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently -118.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Redwood Trust by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,101,012 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,509,000 after acquiring an additional 80,529 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 521.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,875,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,251,302 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,551,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 516,630 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,169,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,000,000 after purchasing an additional 282,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Redwood Trust by 7.5% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,148,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,439,000 after buying an additional 149,003 shares in the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

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.