Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Lowers Holdings in Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its stake in Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC - Free Report) by 88.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 151,443 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Ready Capital were worth $134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ready Capital by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,366,828 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $77,522,000 after buying an additional 768,891 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ready Capital by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,585 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,458,000 after acquiring an additional 398,005 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ready Capital by 3,049.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 392,559 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,677,000 after purchasing an additional 380,095 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ready Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $2,480,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ready Capital by 205.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 484,986 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 326,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on RC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Ready Capital from $4.00 to $3.75 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citizens Jmp cut Ready Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ready Capital from $4.75 to $4.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.00 price target (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.96.

Insider Transactions at Ready Capital

In related news, insider Adam Zausmer purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.42 per share, with a total value of $54,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 301,105 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,989.10. This trade represents a 3.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Ready Capital Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of RC stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $4.15. 2,198,324 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,093,319. Ready Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $3.93 and a 1 year high of $9.54. The firm has a market cap of $706.75 million, a PE ratio of -5.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $4.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Ready Capital (NYSE:RC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $40.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.33 million. Ready Capital had a negative net margin of 11.65% and a positive return on equity of 7.53%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ready Capital Co. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Ready Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ready Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.74%.

Ready Capital Profile

Ready Capital Corporation operates as a real estate finance company in the United States. It operates through two segments: LMM Commercial Real Estate and Small Business Lending. The company originates, acquires, finances, and services lower-to-middle-market (LLM) commercial real estate loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, residential mortgage loans, construction loans, and mortgage-backed securities collateralized primarily by LLM loans, or other real estate-related investments.