Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $5.63, but opened at $5.85. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $6.00 price target on the stock. Redwood Trust shares last traded at $5.8050, with a volume of 121,718 shares trading hands.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on RWT. Jones Trading decreased their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.50 target price on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,750,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,117,000 after purchasing an additional 54,209 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Redwood Trust by 4.7% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 8.0% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 79,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,871 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Redwood Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Finally, NFC Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 486,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 55,081 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $735.38 million, a P/E ratio of -7.17 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.73, a quick ratio of 57.77 and a current ratio of 57.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.72.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $54.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 million. Redwood Trust had a negative net margin of 8.62% and a positive return on equity of 9.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 23rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.4%. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently -88.89%.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc (NYSE:RWT) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the U.S. residential mortgage market. Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company focuses on investing in a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, including whole loans, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, and structured credit products.

The company’s core activities encompass the acquisition, financing, and management of prime residential mortgage whole loans and mortgage-backed securities.