Columbus Macro LLC Buys 153,089 Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. $STWD

Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 30.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 651,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,089 shares during the quarter. Starwood Property Trust makes up about 1.2% of Columbus Macro LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $11,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Argosy Lionbridge Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 76,000 shares during the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $2,617,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake 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 buying an additional 173,462 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $1,680,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Starwood Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,406,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,453,000 after buying an additional 148,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starwood Property Trust

In other news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total value of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 168,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,880,443.76. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STWD shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.70.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Up 0.0%

STWD stock opened at $16.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.98. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.58 and a 12 month high of $21.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $205.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $496.25 million. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 18.11%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

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.