Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research lowered shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

RWT has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $6.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $5.50 to $4.75 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Redwood Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.25.

Redwood Trust Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of RWT opened at $3.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $388.76 million, a PE ratio of -77.36 and a beta of 1.45. Redwood Trust has a 12 month low of $2.91 and a 12 month high of $6.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.84. The company has a current ratio of 67.49, a quick ratio of 67.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.69.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $56.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.45 million. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 0.42%. On average, analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 23.3%. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -1,800.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Redwood Trust news, CFO Brooke Carillo purchased 26,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.85 per share, for a total transaction of $100,350.25. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 140,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,851.85. The trade was a 22.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Abate acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.84 per share, with a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 679,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,608,446.72. This represents a 17.26% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 244,171 shares of company stock valued at $948,402. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Redwood Trust by 371.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 84,502 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,216,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,727,000 after buying an additional 254,399 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 76,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 45,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 11,400 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc (NYSE: RWT) is a specialty finance company focused on housing credit and residential real estate finance. Organized as a real estate investment trust, the company invests in and manages residential credit assets, including mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities, with an emphasis on assets that are not typically financed through traditional government-sponsored mortgage programs.

Redwood operates through several business platforms. Its residential mortgage banking activities include acquiring and financing prime jumbo loans and other residential mortgages, which may be held for investment or placed into private-label securitizations.