Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Stock Short Interest Climbs 238.4%

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 21,510,300 shares, an increase of 238.4% from the August 31st total of 6,356,217 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,267,153 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 17.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Redwood Trust

In related news, President Dashiell I. Robinson acquired 63,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.98 per share, for a total transaction of $251,579.78. Following the transaction, the president owned 395,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,299. The trade was a 19.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg H. Kubicek bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.85 per share, for a total transaction of $192,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 127,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,662.25. This trade represents a 64.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 244,171 shares of company stock worth $948,402. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Redwood Trust in the second quarter worth $1,349,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 395,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after buying an additional 157,795 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $592,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Redwood Trust by 7,932.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 265,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 261,759 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Redwood Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $990,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Stock Up 1.2%

RWT traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.73. 4,599,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,779,649. The stock has a market cap of $467.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.10 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.07. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $3.22 and a fifty-two week high of $6.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.69, a current ratio of 67.49 and a quick ratio of 67.49.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $56.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.45 million. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 0.42%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Redwood Trust will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,800.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RWT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JonesTrading cut their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.25 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Redwood Trust from $5.50 to $4.75 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.84.

About Redwood Trust

Redwood Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that focuses on residential real estate credit. The company invests in, finances and manages residential mortgage assets, including jumbo and other non-agency mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities and related credit investments. Its activities are primarily focused on the U.S. housing market.

Redwood operates through businesses that support the origination, financing and securitization of residential mortgage credit. Its platform has historically included Sequoia, which acquires and securitizes residential loans, as well as CoreVest, which provides financing to residential real estate investors and developers.