Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Ladder Capital Corp $LADR

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ladder Capital Corp by 0.4% in the first quarter, now owning 8.94% of the company valued at approximately $129.7 million.
• In a recent insider transaction, Director Mark David Alexander sold 26,795 shares of Ladder Capital stock, decreasing his ownership by nearly 48%.
• Ladder Capital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of approximately 8.2%.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR - Free Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,367,771 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 42,255 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.94% of Ladder Capital worth $129,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,955,381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,361,000 after purchasing an additional 190,867 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,684,772 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,961 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted 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 valued at $19,896,000 after purchasing an additional 461,739 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,734,479 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $19,790,000 after purchasing an additional 54,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ladder Capital by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 637,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,132,000 after purchasing an additional 41,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ladder Capital news, Director Mark David Alexander sold 26,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.86, for a total transaction of $290,993.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $317,426.94. This trade represents a 47.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 over the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ladder Capital Stock Performance

NYSE LADR traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $11.50. 17,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 658,442. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.95. Ladder Capital Corp has a 52-week low of $9.68 and a 52-week high of $12.36.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $56.26 million for 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Ladder Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. Ladder Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 131.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LADR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ladder Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $12.75.

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.