Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Redwood Trust, Inc. $RWT

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 284,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 3,572 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 331.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of Marin bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in Redwood Trust by 2,034.5% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 10,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 10,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of RWT stock opened at $4.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.29. The company has a quick ratio of 67.49, a current ratio of 67.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.69. The firm has a market cap of $566.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.72 and a beta of 1.37. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.19 and a 12 month high of $6.97.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 0.42% and a return on equity of 16.02%. The company had revenue of $56.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.45 million. Research analysts expect that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently -1,800.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on RWT shares. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.94.

About Redwood Trust

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.