Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.07.

Several analysts recently weighed in on STWD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STWD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,852,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $606,480,000 after acquiring an additional 72,461 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,447,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,246,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,216,000 after buying an additional 58,836 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Starwood Property Trust by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,929,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,560,000 after buying an additional 52,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 9.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,250,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,421,000 after buying an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STWD opened at $20.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.73. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $17.07 and a 52-week high of $22.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.70.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $489.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $505.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.13%.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.