First Trust Advisors LP Sells 358,724 Shares of Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC - Free Report) by 75.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,779 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 358,724 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Ready Capital worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ready Capital by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,366,828 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $77,522,000 after purchasing an additional 768,891 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ready Capital by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,116,019 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,251,000 after purchasing an additional 197,770 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ready Capital by 21.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 398,005 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Ready Capital by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,540,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,508,000 after purchasing an additional 174,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Ready Capital by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,166,296 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,954,000 after purchasing an additional 76,788 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ready Capital

In other Ready Capital news, insider Adam Zausmer purchased 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the acquisition, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.09% of the company's stock.

Ready Capital Stock Up 3.0%

RC stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $4.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,879,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,789. The firm has a market cap of $733.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.08 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.17. Ready Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $3.93 and a 52-week high of $9.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Ready Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.75%. Ready Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently -28.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on RC shares. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ready Capital from $6.25 to $4.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citizens Jmp cut Ready Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Ready Capital from $5.00 to $4.75 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ready Capital currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.04.

Ready Capital Company 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.