Phocas Financial Corp. Trims Position in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its holdings in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 497,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 30,350 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Ladder Capital were worth $5,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Ladder Capital in the first quarter worth approximately $787,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Ladder Capital by 32.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,091,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,321,000 after acquiring an additional 266,693 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ladder Capital by 5.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,020,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,434,000 after acquiring an additional 96,573 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 27,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 92.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 737,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,332,000 after purchasing an additional 353,530 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on LADR shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ladder Capital from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Ladder Capital from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $13.50 price target on shares of Ladder Capital in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com lowered Ladder Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ladder Capital from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.33.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ladder Capital stock opened at $11.65 on Tuesday. Ladder Capital Corp has a 1-year low of $10.10 and a 1-year high of $12.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 54.44 and a quick ratio of 54.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.54 and a 200-day moving average of $11.52.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $128.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Ladder Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ladder Capital

In other Ladder Capital news, President Pamela Mccormack sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total value of $612,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 548,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,723,571.75. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert Perelman sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $303,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 351,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,270,153.95. This trade represents a 6.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.