D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Stake in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT - Free Report) by 97.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,012 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,116,988 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.07% of Redwood Trust worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Redwood Trust by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 72,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,313 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 4,788 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 75,463 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 361,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,363,000 after buying an additional 7,925 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 61,583 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 8,588 shares during the period. 74.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RWT traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $5.46. 617,558 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 942,761. The company has a current ratio of 44.36, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.09. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $5.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.33. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.68 and a 52-week high of $8.15. The stock has a market cap of $726.82 million, a PE ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 1.45.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). Redwood Trust had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The company had revenue of $73.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.55 million. On average, analysts forecast that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. Redwood Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 327.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RWT shares. Jones Trading reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Redwood Trust from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.75 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their target price on Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.44.

About Redwood Trust

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.