Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.50.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Up 1.7%

Starwood Property Trust stock opened at $16.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Starwood Property Trust has a 1-year low of $15.51 and a 1-year high of $20.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.37. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $201.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $521.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 325.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC raised its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 882,760.9% in the first quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 112,176,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,931,676,000 after buying an additional 112,163,596 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $589,366,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,406,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,453,000 after acquiring an additional 148,740 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,387,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,353,000 after acquiring an additional 64,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,177,000. Institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

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.