Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) to “Outperform”

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $22.50 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $20.50.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on STWD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a buy rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.07.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:STWD opened at $19.65 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $17.07 and a 52-week high of $22.29.

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 company had revenue of $489.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $505.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 138.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 49.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

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.