Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 148,740 Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. $STWD

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,406,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 148,740 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $115,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STWD. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Starwood Property Trust by 157.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,193,085 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $20,457,000. HRT Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 315.4% in the second quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 713,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,318,000 after purchasing an additional 541,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $8,490,000. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total value of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 168,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,880,443.76. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Starwood Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of STWD stock opened at $17.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.55 and a 200 day moving average of $17.91. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.78 and a 52 week high of $21.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 18.11%.The business had revenue of $205.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $496.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.3%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

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.