Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Moderate Buy consensus from nine analysts (1 sell, 2 hold, 5 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of about $6.96.
• Redwood pays a quarterly dividend of $0.18 (annualized $0.72) for a 12.0% yield
• Last quarter EPS of $0.20 missed consensus by $0.02, the company reported a negative net margin (‑5.93%) despite a 12.0% ROE, and analysts forecast about $0.78 EPS for the year.

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.9583.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RWT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Redwood Trust from $5.75 to $7.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Redwood Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. JonesTrading restated a "buy" rating and issued a $6.25 price objective on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Redwood Trust stock opened at $5.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.34, a quick ratio of 57.77 and a current ratio of 55.15. Redwood Trust has a fifty-two week low of $4.68 and a fifty-two week high of $6.97. The company has a market capitalization of $748.69 million, a PE ratio of -9.82 and a beta of 1.55.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $86.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.88 million. Redwood Trust had a positive return on equity of 12.00% and a negative net margin of 5.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 23rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.0%. Redwood Trust's payout ratio is -118.03%.

Institutional Trading of Redwood Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 192.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 5,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 3,572 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 331.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 6,082 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 54.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Bank of Marin purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company's stock.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc NYSE: RWT is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the U.S. residential mortgage market. Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company focuses on investing in a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, including whole loans, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, and structured credit products.

The company's core activities encompass the acquisition, financing, and management of prime residential mortgage whole loans and mortgage-backed securities.

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