Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR - Free Report) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,020,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 96,573 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.60% of Ladder Capital worth $23,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Ladder Capital by 57.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 55,555 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 20,242 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ladder Capital during the 1st quarter worth $148,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ladder Capital by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 113,448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,257 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Ladder Capital by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ladder Capital by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,234,757 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $125,043,000 after buying an additional 28,602 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.25% of the company's stock.

Ladder Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ladder Capital stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $11.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 329,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 636,206. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.50. Ladder Capital Corp has a fifty-two week low of $10.10 and a fifty-two week high of $12.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 54.44, a quick ratio of 54.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Ladder Capital had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $128.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ladder Capital Corp will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.85%. Ladder Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LADR. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $13.50 target price on shares of Ladder Capital in a report on Friday, August 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Ladder Capital in a research report on Friday, July 19th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Ladder Capital from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com cut Ladder Capital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Ladder Capital from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.33.

Insider Activity

In other Ladder Capital news, President Pamela Mccormack sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total transaction of $612,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 548,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,723,571.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President Pamela Mccormack sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.25, for a total transaction of $612,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 548,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,723,571.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Perelman sold 25,000 shares of Ladder Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $303,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 351,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,270,153.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.00% of the company's stock.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning.