LDR Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD)

LDR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 156,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,918 shares during the quarter. Starwood Property Trust makes up about 3.5% of LDR Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. LDR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $3,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $1,773,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $851,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Starwood Property Trust by 0.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 72,461 shares during the last quarter. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STWD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.50 to $22.50 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.36.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Starwood Property Trust stock opened at $19.80 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.18 and its 200 day moving average is $19.74. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.07 and a twelve month high of $22.29.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $489.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $505.23 million. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.89 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 Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.70%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 176.15%.

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.