Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Seven firms give Ladder Capital an average “Hold” rating, with four buys, two holds, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $12.36.
• Institutional ownership increased: Several major investors added to their positions, and hedge funds and other institutions collectively own 62.25% of LADR shares.
• Dividend yield remains attractive: Ladder Capital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23, equivalent to $0.92 annually and a 10.1% yield, despite a high 219.05% payout ratio. Quarterly earnings matched estimates at $0.24 per share, while revenue exceeded expectations.

Shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.36.

LADR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Ladder Capital in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Ladder Capital from $11.00 to $10.75 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $10.25 price target on shares of Ladder Capital in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ladder Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LADR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Ladder Capital by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,580,178 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,623,000 after buying an additional 1,596,839 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ladder Capital by 4.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,981,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,331,000 after purchasing an additional 129,665 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Ladder Capital by 10.4% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,027,255 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,221,000 after purchasing an additional 97,147 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 660,814 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,262,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Ladder Capital by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 515,529 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,037,000 after buying an additional 15,899 shares during the period. 62.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ladder Capital Stock Performance

Ladder Capital stock opened at $9.09 on Monday. Ladder Capital has a fifty-two week low of $8.97 and a fifty-two week high of $11.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $9.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 44.15 and a current ratio of 44.15.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $57.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ladder Capital will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.1%. Ladder Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 219.05%.

Ladder Capital Company Profile

Ladder Capital Corp. NYSE: LADR is a commercial real estate finance company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company provides financing to commercial property owners and invests in a portfolio of commercial real estate-related assets, with a focus on generating income from real estate debt and investments.

Its business activities include originating and acquiring first mortgage loans, subordinate or mezzanine loans, commercial mortgage-backed securities and other real estate-related debt investments.

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