StockNews.com Downgrades Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.19.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

RWT stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.27. 1,477,152 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 685,066. The company has a quick ratio of 50.47, a current ratio of 50.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.75. The company has a market cap of $961.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.94. Redwood Trust has a 1-year low of $5.45 and a 1-year high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 5.93%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.35%. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is 123.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RWT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Redwood Trust by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 66,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Redwood Trust by 9.1% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 22,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 16.7% in the third quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.