Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on RWT. JonesTrading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.25 price target on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.96.

Redwood Trust Trading Up 4.4%

NYSE RWT opened at $5.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $701.82 million, a P/E ratio of -9.20 and a beta of 1.55. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.85 and its 200-day moving average is $5.67. Redwood Trust has a one year low of $4.68 and a one year high of $6.97.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.88 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is -118.03%.

Institutional Trading of Redwood Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 521.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,875,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,430,000 after acquiring an additional 3,251,302 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 10.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,020,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,675 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,674,009 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,257,000 after purchasing an additional 578,301 shares during the last quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,947,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,551,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 516,630 shares during the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently 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.