Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,611,802 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 2,217,983 shares.The stock last traded at $19.96 and had previously closed at $19.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STWD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.07.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The firm had revenue of $489.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $505.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.59%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 138.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,852,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $606,480,000 after buying an additional 72,461 shares during the period. 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 stake in Starwood Property Trust by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,246,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,216,000 after purchasing an additional 58,836 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 2.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

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.