Columbus Macro LLC Purchases 153,089 Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. $STWD

Key Points

• Columbus Macro LLC boosted its Starwood Property Trust stake by 30.7% in Q1, buying 153,089 shares and bringing its total to 651,930 shares worth about $11.2 million.
• Starwood Property Trust recently reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS and revenue estimates even though revenue rose 22.5% year over year; analysts still expect full-year EPS of 1.55.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, implying an annualized yield of 11.6%, and its board also authorized a $400 million share repurchase program.

Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD - Free Report) by 30.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 651,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 153,089 shares during the period. Starwood Property Trust makes up 1.2% of Columbus Macro LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Columbus Macro LLC owned about 0.18% of Starwood Property Trust worth $11,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,737,000. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $187,000. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1.0% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 189,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,302,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,493 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. 49.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

STWD opened at $16.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.31. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.58 and a 12-month high of $21.05. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.79.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $205.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Starwood Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Starwood Property Trust announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on STWD. UBS Group began coverage on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Starwood Property Trust from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Starwood Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starwood Property Trust

In other news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.13, for a total value of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 168,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,880,443.76. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.80% of the company's stock.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust NYSE: STWD is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that specializes in originating, acquiring and managing commercial mortgage loans and other real estate-related investments. The company's portfolio spans a variety of asset classes, including senior mortgages, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and direct equity investments in commercial properties. By focusing on both debt and equity capital solutions, Starwood Property Trust seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

Operating primarily in the United States, Starwood Property Trust deploys capital across a broad range of property types, such as multifamily residential, office, retail, hotel and industrial.

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