Insider Buying: Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) CEO Purchases $4,809,850.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO Barry Sternlicht bought 415,000 Starwood Property Trust shares at an average price of $11.59, spending about $4.81 million. The purchase increased his direct holdings by 38.3% to approximately 1.50 million shares.
• Starwood reported quarterly EPS of $0.31, beating analysts’ $0.27 estimate, while revenue of $545.85 million also topped forecasts; revenue was down 22.8% year over year. Shares fell 0.7% to $11.36 in Friday trading.
• The company’s quarterly dividend was $0.48 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of 16.9% at the article’s cited share price. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $17.10 average price target.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) CEO Barry Sternlicht acquired 415,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.59 per share, for a total transaction of $4,809,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,498,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,366,699.39. This represents a 38.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE STWD traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.36. 7,261,705 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,604,194. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.24. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.23 and a 1-year high of $18.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.04. Starwood Property Trust had a negative net margin of 11.35% and a positive return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $545.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust's payout ratio is currently -282.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STWD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Starwood Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $20.00 price target on Starwood Property Trust in a report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Starwood Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Starwood Property Trust from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STWD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $589,366,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $19,537,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 101.4% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 344,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,646,000 after buying an additional 173,558 shares during the last quarter. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $3,216,000. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 48.1% during the third quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 299,901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,049,000 after buying an additional 97,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.82% of the company's stock.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance and related investments. The company originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other debt investments secured by commercial properties, and also invests in commercial real estate and infrastructure-related lending. Founded in 2009, Starwood Property Trust operates primarily in the United States and also conducts business in international markets, including Europe and Australia.

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