Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC cut its position in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT - Free Report) by 79.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 218,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 861,811 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.17% of Redwood Trust worth $1,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RWT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 66,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Redwood Trust by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 18,118 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Redwood Trust by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,198 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 5,514 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 976,283 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,336,000 after purchasing an additional 174,317 shares during the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of RWT stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,118,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,090,823. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a current ratio of 44.36 and a quick ratio of 44.36. The company's fifty day moving average is $7.11 and its 200 day moving average is $7.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.99 million, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.57.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.96%. This is a boost from Redwood Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Redwood Trust's dividend payout ratio is 130.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on RWT shares. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Redwood Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.03.

Redwood Trust Profile

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.