Allianz Asset Management GmbH Purchases 108,810 Shares of Ladder Capital Corp $LADR

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Ladder Capital Corp by 35.4%, acquiring an additional 108,810 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 415,846 shares worth $4.47 million.
• Ladder Capital announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, yielding 8.3% annually, and has a dividend payout ratio of 131.43%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 20.05% net margin and a slight EPS increase, beating analysts' expectations by one cent despite revenue falling short of estimates.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR - Free Report) by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 415,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 108,810 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.32% of Ladder Capital worth $4,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LADR. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 49,336 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,251 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Ladder Capital in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 498,988 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,693,000 after acquiring an additional 8,428 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 95,563 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 16,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,405 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. 62.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark David Alexander sold 26,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total transaction of $290,993.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $317,426.94. This represents a 47.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 91,382 shares of company stock worth $1,003,501 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.00% of the company's stock.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

NYSE LADR opened at $11.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 31.28 and a current ratio of 31.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $11.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.85. Ladder Capital Corp has a 52-week low of $9.68 and a 52-week high of $12.10. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 1.09.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 20.05% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $56.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.3%. Ladder Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 131.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LADR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ladder Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ladder Capital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ladder Capital from $11.75 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Ladder Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ladder Capital currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $12.00.

Ladder Capital Profile

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.

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