Ready Capital Corp (NYSE:RC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Ready Capital Corp (NYSE:RC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.96.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RC shares. Citizens Jmp lowered Ready Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ready Capital from $4.00 to $3.75 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ready Capital from $4.75 to $4.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ready Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RC. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ready Capital in the first quarter valued at about $8,235,000. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Ready Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,444,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ready Capital by 7.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 768,891 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ready Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,393,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Ready Capital by 16.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,618,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $18,417,000 after acquiring an additional 502,162 shares in the last quarter. 55.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ready Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RC traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.52. 1,218,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,143,013. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.57. The company has a market cap of $769.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.59 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. Ready Capital has a 52 week low of $3.93 and a 52 week high of $9.54.

Ready Capital (NYSE:RC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $40.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.33 million. Ready Capital had a positive return on equity of 5.53% and a negative net margin of 34.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ready Capital will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ready Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.07%. Ready Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently -28.74%.

About Ready Capital

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.