Northern Trust Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Ladder Capital Corp $LADR

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Ladder Capital Corp by 3.0%, now holding approximately 1,141,738 shares valued at about $13 million.
• Other institutions have also adjusted their positions, with notable increases from GAMMA Investing LLC, which boosted its stake by 1,364.2% during the same quarter.
• Ladder Capital has received upgrades from analysts, with one upgrading the rating from "sell" to "hold" and a revised target price increasing to $12.00, indicating a generally positive outlook on the stock.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its position in shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,141,738 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 35,042 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.90% of Ladder Capital worth $13,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LADR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 71,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 6,714 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Ladder Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 90.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 21,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 367,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,112,000 after buying an additional 57,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Ladder Capital by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,777,974 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,896,000 after buying an additional 461,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.25% of the company's stock.

Ladder Capital Price Performance

Shares of LADR traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 196,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,533. The company has a current ratio of 31.28, a quick ratio of 31.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.09. Ladder Capital Corp has a 1-year low of $9.68 and a 1-year high of $12.25.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $56.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.57 million. Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 20.05%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. Analysts predict 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ladder Capital's payout ratio is presently 131.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark David Alexander sold 26,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total value of $290,993.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,229 shares in the company, valued at $317,426.94. This represents a 47.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 91,382 shares of company stock worth $1,003,501 in the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LADR. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ladder Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Ladder Capital from $11.75 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Ladder Capital Company 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.