EMC Capital Management Sells 5,994 Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

EMC Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,994 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Redwood Trust were worth $192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Redwood Trust during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 65.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 4,788 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RWT shares. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.84.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RWT opened at $6.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $6.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.16. The stock has a market cap of $857.40 million, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.57. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 9.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.13%. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently 130.91%.

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.