Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Price Target to $19.50

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $20.00 to $19.50 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on STWD. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of STWD stock opened at $17.05 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.02. Starwood Property Trust has a 52 week low of $16.90 and a 52 week high of $21.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.02.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its 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 net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 7.91%. 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 prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

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

Starwood Property Trust announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total transaction of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 168,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,880,443.76. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,976,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $638,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,085 shares in the last quarter. Argosy Lionbridge Management LLC grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 286.1% during the 3rd quarter. Argosy Lionbridge Management LLC now owns 102,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 76,000 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $2,617,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 589,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,412,000 after acquiring an additional 96,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 647,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,533,000 after acquiring an additional 173,462 shares in the last quarter. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.