Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 862,800 shares, a decline of 17.8% from the February 13th total of 1,050,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 581,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Ladder Capital Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE LADR traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.65. The stock had a trading volume of 500,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 586,490. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.91. Ladder Capital has a 12 month low of $10.21 and a 12 month high of $12.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 38.96 and a current ratio of 38.96.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.04). Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 21.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ladder Capital will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Ladder Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ladder Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LADR. StockNews.com cut shares of Ladder Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. B. Riley raised Ladder Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Ladder Capital from $13.00 to $12.75 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LADR. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 1,089.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,528,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,238 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ladder Capital by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,684,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,043,000 after buying an additional 1,172,961 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Ladder Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $7,981,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ladder Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,907,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ladder Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $5,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.25% of the company’s stock.

Ladder Capital Company Profile

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.