By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,840,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the November 30th total of 9,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Starwood Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the third quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Starwood Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have recently weighed in on STWD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Starwood Property Trust
Starwood Property Trust Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:STWD traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $18.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,397,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,823. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.79 and a 200 day moving average of $19.85. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $18.43 and a 52-week high of $21.22.
Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $479.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $488.63 million. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 9.93%. Starwood Property Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 164.10%.
About Starwood Property Trust
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.
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