Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Starwood Property Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $20.00 target price on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.70.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of STWD stock opened at $12.12 on Tuesday. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $11.84 and a 52-week high of $18.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day moving average of $16.23.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The company had revenue of $201.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $521.67 million. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 325.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 882,760.9% in the first quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 112,176,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,931,676,000 after purchasing an additional 112,163,596 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $589,366,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $70,121,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 8.8% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,046,542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,902,000 after buying an additional 246,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $38,498,000. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

Starwood Property Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that focuses on commercial real estate finance and related investments. The company originates, acquires, and manages a range of real estate debt and equity investments, serving institutional borrowers, property owners, and developers.

Its portfolio and lending activities include senior mortgage loans, mezzanine debt, subordinated loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other structured real estate investments.