Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Ready Capital Co. (NYSE:RC) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,714 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ready Capital were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RC. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ready Capital by 2,902.2% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 402,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,069,000 after buying an additional 388,891 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Ready Capital by 205.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 484,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 326,467 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ready Capital by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,315,147 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,746,000 after purchasing an additional 287,068 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ready Capital by 99.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 399,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 199,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ready Capital by 11.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,868,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,257,000 after purchasing an additional 195,663 shares in the last quarter. 55.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ready Capital Trading Down 27.0 %

RC stock opened at $5.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. Ready Capital Co. has a one year low of $4.78 and a one year high of $9.53. The company has a market capitalization of $852.77 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.27.

Ready Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.88%. Ready Capital’s dividend payout ratio is -142.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Ready Capital from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ready Capital from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Ready Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Ready Capital in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of Ready Capital from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ready Capital currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.61.

About Ready Capital

Ready Capital Corporation operates as a real estate finance company in the United States. It operates through two segments: LMM Commercial Real Estate and Small Business Lending. The company originates, acquires, finances, and services lower-to-middle-market (LLM) commercial real estate loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, residential mortgage loans, construction loans, and mortgage-backed securities collateralized primarily by LLM loans, or other real estate-related investments.