Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.70.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STWD shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Starwood Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 70.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 36,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 15,001 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,606 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 3,784 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 99.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after buying an additional 3,577 shares during the last quarter. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:STWD opened at $16.26 on Wednesday. Starwood Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $15.78 and a fifty-two week high of $20.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.98.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $205.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 200.00%.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

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.