Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities cut their price target on Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jones Trading reduced their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Redwood Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RWT. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 86.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,313 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 4,788 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company's stock.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

RWT stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.47. 1,292,026 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,348. Redwood Trust has a 52-week low of $4.68 and a 52-week high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.09, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36. The company has a market cap of $727.42 million, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $6.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.62.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $27.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.00 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. Redwood Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 218.18%.

Redwood Trust Company 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.