Insider Selling: Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Director Sells 7,013 Shares of Stock

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Director Jeffrey Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total transaction of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 168,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,880,443.76. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:STWD traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.23. 2,646,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,456,565. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.59 and a 1 year high of $21.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.33. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.01. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 22.32%.The company had revenue of $492.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.1%. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is 165.52%.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 764,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,764,000 after buying an additional 141,046 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $505,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,300,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 62,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 16,690 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.90.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

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.