Whittier Trust Co. Has $555,000 Stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. $STWD

Key Points

• Whittier Trust cut its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 81% in Q4, selling 128,945 shares and leaving it with 30,210 shares worth about $555,000.
• Starwood recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.48 (annualized yield 10.6%) while its dividend payout ratio is very high at 165.5%, and the board authorized a $400 million share buyback (up to ~6.1% of shares).
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $19.80, though several firms (including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan) have recently trimmed their targets.

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD - Free Report) by 81.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,210 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 128,945 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,976,364 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $638,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,085 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,457,000. HRT Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 315.4% in the 2nd quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 713,415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,318,000 after acquiring an additional 541,672 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,490,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 1,650.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 372,837 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,715,000 after acquiring an additional 351,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on STWD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised Starwood Property Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starwood Property Trust

In other news, Director Jeffrey G. Dishner sold 7,013 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $120,132.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 168,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,880,443.76. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE STWD opened at $18.15 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.13. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.90 and a 52-week high of $21.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $492.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $469.53 million. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 22.32%.Starwood Property Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Starwood Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 165.52%.

Starwood Property Trust declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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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