Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Redwood Trust from $5.75 to $7.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Redwood Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Redwood Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $6.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Redwood Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.82.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of Redwood Trust stock opened at $5.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 55.15, a current ratio of 55.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.34. The company has a market cap of $733.13 million, a PE ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.84 and a 200 day moving average of $5.66. Redwood Trust has a 52 week low of $4.68 and a 52 week high of $6.97.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $140.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.88 million. Redwood Trust had a negative net margin of 5.93% and a positive return on equity of 12.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -118.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Redwood Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWT. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Redwood Trust by 192.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 5,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 331.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 6,082 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 54.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Bank of Marin bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc (NYSE:RWT) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the U.S. residential mortgage market. Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company focuses on investing in a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, including whole loans, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, and structured credit products.

The company’s core activities encompass the acquisition, financing, and management of prime residential mortgage whole loans and mortgage-backed securities.