Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.25.

A number of analysts have commented on STWD shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $9,580,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 2,414.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 476,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,713,000 after buying an additional 457,631 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,345,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,960,000 after acquiring an additional 399,672 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 891,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,174,000 after acquiring an additional 390,787 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $5,455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of STWD opened at $19.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $18.43 and a 52-week high of $22.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.83. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.69.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $479.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $488.63 million. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.