Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Price Target to $8.50

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $7.50 to $8.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

RWT has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $8.08.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

RWT stock opened at $7.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.66. The company has a current ratio of 50.47, a quick ratio of 50.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 110.57 and a beta of 1.58. Redwood Trust has a 1-year low of $5.45 and a 1-year high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 4.93% and a net margin of 4.45%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Redwood Trust will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.79%. This is an increase from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is currently 971.43%.

Institutional Trading of Redwood Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,798,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,325,000 after acquiring an additional 127,435 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Redwood Trust by 13.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,103,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,182,000 after buying an additional 127,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Redwood Trust by 164.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,314,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,842,000 after buying an additional 7,035,524 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Redwood Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Redwood Trust by 4.5% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 69,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 2,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.