Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Short Interest Update

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 11,076,150 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the December 31st total of 12,737,185 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,250,428 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,250,428 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STWD opened at $18.48 on Thursday. Starwood Property Trust has a 12 month low of $16.59 and a 12 month high of $21.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.96.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.04). Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $247.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.4%. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 182.86%.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $692,415,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $638,752,000 after buying an additional 2,193,085 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,387,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,353,000 after buying an additional 64,178 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Starwood Property Trust by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,702,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263,856 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on STWD shares. Zacks Research raised Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.63.

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.