Carson Advisory Inc. Raises Position in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD)

Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,057 shares during the quarter. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 26.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,121,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,398,000 after buying an additional 657,180 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 84.8% in the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,941,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,914,000 after buying an additional 1,349,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,322,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,790,000 after purchasing an additional 39,788 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,249,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,265,000 after purchasing an additional 39,711 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,208,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,383,000 after purchasing an additional 52,174 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Jeffrey F. Dimodica sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $2,028,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,226,673 shares in the company, valued at $24,876,928.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STWD has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.50 price objective (down from $22.50) on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Starwood Property Trust from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Starwood Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.71.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

STWD traded up $0.25 on Thursday, reaching $19.37. 1,651,066 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,137,068. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.95. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.06 and a fifty-two week high of $22.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 1.65.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.91%. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 179.44%.

Starwood Property Trust Profile

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.