Brokerages Set Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Target Price at $19.20

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.20.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on STWD shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Starwood Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of STWD opened at $15.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.98. Starwood Property Trust has a 52 week low of $14.89 and a 52 week high of $20.21.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The company had revenue of $201.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $521.67 million. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.8%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 325.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $589,366,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,216,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,488,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 26.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 764,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,173,000 after purchasing an additional 161,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 63.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 331,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after purchasing an additional 128,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust focused primarily on commercial real estate finance. The company originates, acquires, finances and manages a range of commercial real estate debt investments, including first mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, subordinated debt and securities backed by commercial properties.

Its activities also include infrastructure lending, residential lending and the ownership or management of commercial real estate investments. Through these businesses, Starwood Property Trust provides financing to property owners, developers and investors across sectors such as office, multifamily, industrial, hospitality and other commercial real estate categories.

Founded in 2009, the company operates primarily in the United States and also pursues investment opportunities in international markets, including Europe.