Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on RWT. Jones Trading dropped their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.50 price target on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.75.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Redwood Trust stock opened at $5.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.51 and a 200-day moving average of $5.73. Redwood Trust has a 1 year low of $4.68 and a 1 year high of $6.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $755.65 million, a P/E ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 57.77, a quick ratio of 57.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.73.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. Redwood Trust had a negative net margin of 8.62% and a positive return on equity of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $54.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 23rd were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is currently -88.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 10.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,020,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $86,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,675 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 29.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,034,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,779,000 after purchasing an additional 468,720 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Redwood Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,300,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 220.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 120,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 220,316 shares during the period. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc (NYSE:RWT) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the U.S. residential mortgage market. Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company focuses on investing in a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, including whole loans, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, and structured credit products.

The company’s core activities encompass the acquisition, financing, and management of prime residential mortgage whole loans and mortgage-backed securities.