Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) CEO Acquires 415,000 Shares of Company Stock

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) CEO Barry Sternlicht purchased 415,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.59 per share, with a total value of $4,809,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,498,421 shares in the company, valued at $17,366,699.39. The trade was a 38.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STWD traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.36. The company had a trading volume of 7,261,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,604,194. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $11.23 and a one year high of $18.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.03.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. Starwood Property Trust had a positive return on equity of 7.77% and a negative net margin of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $545.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Starwood Property Trust’s revenue was down 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -282.35%.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 293.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on STWD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.10.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance and related investments. The company originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other debt investments secured by commercial properties, and also invests in commercial real estate and infrastructure-related lending. Founded in 2009, Starwood Property Trust operates primarily in the United States and also conducts business in international markets, including Europe and Australia.