Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.03.

RWT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RWT stock opened at $6.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $814.76 million, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.57. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.17.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is currently 130.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the third quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Redwood Trust by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the second quarter worth about $86,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Redwood Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

About Redwood Trust

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.