Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Shares Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) were down 4.4% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $13.75 and last traded at $13.7350. 975,549 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 3,650,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STWD. Zacks Research upgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.20.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Down 4.9%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $201.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $521.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Starwood Property Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 325.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 101.4% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 344,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after buying an additional 173,558 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.5% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 192,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

Starwood Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: STWD) is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates, acquires, finances and manages a range of real estate debt investments, including senior and subordinate mortgages, mezzanine loans, and other credit investments secured by commercial properties.

Its business also includes commercial real estate lending and servicing, residential lending, and infrastructure lending. Through these activities, Starwood Property Trust provides financing to property owners, developers and other real estate participants across multiple property types, including office, multifamily, industrial, hospitality and other commercial assets.

Founded in 2009, the company operates primarily in the United States and has also pursued lending and investment opportunities in Europe and other select international markets.