Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

RWT has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Redwood Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Jones Trading lowered their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

NYSE RWT traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $5.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 418,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,034. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $5.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.72. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $4.68 and a fifty-two week high of $6.73. The stock has a market cap of $742.98 million, a PE ratio of -7.21 and a beta of 1.58.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $54.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 million. Redwood Trust had a positive return on equity of 9.19% and a negative net margin of 8.62%. Analysts forecast that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 23rd were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.3%. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RWT. CWM LLC grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 270.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 331.8% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 6,082 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 4,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 136.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 6,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

About Redwood Trust

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.