Zacks Research Upgrades Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) to Strong-Buy

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

RWT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. 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 research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jones Trading decreased their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.75.

Redwood Trust Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of RWT stock opened at $5.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.73, a quick ratio of 57.77 and a current ratio of 57.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $750.58 million, a PE ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 1.58. Redwood Trust has a 52-week low of $4.68 and a 52-week high of $6.73.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $54.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 million. Redwood Trust had a positive return on equity of 9.19% and a negative net margin of 8.62%. On average, analysts predict that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Redwood Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Redwood Trust by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,020,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,675 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,674,009 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,257,000 after purchasing an additional 578,301 shares during the period. Tran Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $2,947,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 29.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,034,437 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,779,000 after purchasing an additional 468,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $2,018,000. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.