Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on RWT. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.75 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jones Trading reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.44.

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

Redwood Trust stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $5.47. The stock had a trading volume of 286,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,110. Redwood Trust has a 1 year low of $4.68 and a 1 year high of $8.15. The company has a quick ratio of 44.36, a current ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $5.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.34. The stock has a market cap of $727.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.45.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $73.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.55 million. Redwood Trust had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 9.35%. As a group, analysts predict that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. Redwood Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 327.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RWT. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Redwood Trust by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,569,301 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,248,000 after purchasing an additional 197,719 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Redwood Trust by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 641,410 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,188,000 after purchasing an additional 18,164 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,085,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,089,000 after acquiring an additional 165,281 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,707,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,561,000 after acquiring an additional 206,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,003,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,554,000 after acquiring an additional 89,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company's stock.

About Redwood Trust

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.