Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,860,000 shares, a decline of 21.7% from the February 13th total of 13,870,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on STWD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.50 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.21.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STWD traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.21. 627,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,213,025. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.80. The company has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Starwood Property Trust has a 12-month low of $18.12 and a 12-month high of $21.17.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STWD. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,468 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 84,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after buying an additional 27,431 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 98,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after buying an additional 3,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

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.