Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Short Interest Up 18.6% in December

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,840,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the November 30th total of 9,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,109,988 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,002,000 after acquiring an additional 116,182 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 147.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 225,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 134,121 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Starwood Property Trust by 66.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 224,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,585,000 after purchasing an additional 90,046 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $2,250,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 66,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 37,554 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE STWD traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, reaching $18.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,397,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.85. Starwood Property Trust has a 1-year low of $18.43 and a 1-year high of $21.22.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.05. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The business had revenue of $479.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $488.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Starwood Property Trust's revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.13%. Starwood Property Trust's payout ratio is 164.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STWD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Starwood Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.25.

Starwood Property Trust Company Profile

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.

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