LADENBURG THALM/SH SH Lowers Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) to Neutral

Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) was downgraded by analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

RC has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ready Capital from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $8.00 target price (down from $10.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ready Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Ready Capital from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.93.

Ready Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ready Capital stock opened at $8.66 on Friday. Ready Capital has a 12 month low of $8.25 and a 12 month high of $11.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Ready Capital had a net margin of 35.69% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $232.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ready Capital will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert E. Nathan bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.65 per share, for a total transaction of $86,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 83,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,806.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ready Capital news, Director Gilbert E. Nathan acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.65 per share, with a total value of $86,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,806.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin M. Luebbers acquired 5,000 shares of Ready Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.43 per share, for a total transaction of $42,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 119,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,010,967.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 17,150 shares of company stock worth $148,280. 0.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ready Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Ready Capital by 10.8% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Ready Capital by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 72,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Ready Capital by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Ready Capital by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 138,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in Ready Capital by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 60,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares in the last quarter. 55.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ready Capital

Ready Capital Corporation operates as a real estate finance company in the United States. It operates through two segments: LMM Commercial Real Estate and Small Business Lending. The company originates, acquires, finances, and services lower-to-middle-market (LLM) commercial real estate loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, residential mortgage loans, construction loans, and mortgage-backed securities collateralized primarily by LLM loans, or other real estate-related investments.