Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE:LADR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.75.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LADR. Wall Street Zen raised Ladder Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Ladder Capital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ladder Capital from $11.50 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th.

Ladder Capital Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:LADR opened at $10.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.48. The company has a current ratio of 58.90, a quick ratio of 58.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.79. Ladder Capital has a 12-month low of $9.61 and a 12-month high of $11.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.95.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $51.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.03 million. Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 13.82%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ladder Capital will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Ladder Capital’s payout ratio is currently 209.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ladder Capital

In other news, insider Robert Perelman sold 17,505 shares of Ladder Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.25, for a total value of $179,426.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 428,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,394,011. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ladder Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ladder Capital by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,275,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,993,000 after acquiring an additional 474,982 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Ladder Capital by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,930,524 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,206,000 after acquiring an additional 682,511 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Ladder Capital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,666,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,090,000 after acquiring an additional 61,292 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Ladder Capital by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 2,208,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,275,000 after acquiring an additional 225,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Ladder Capital by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,391,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,289,000 after acquiring an additional 467,545 shares in the last quarter. 62.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ladder Capital Company Profile

Ladder Capital Corp (NYSE: LADR) is a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company structured as a real estate investment trust. The firm specializes in originating, acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial mortgage loans, subordinate financings such as mezzanine loans and B-notes, and equity investments. In addition to direct lending activities, Ladder Capital invests in and manages commercial mortgage‐backed securities (CMBS) and commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations (CRE CLOs), providing financing across a range of property types including office, retail, multifamily, industrial and hospitality assets.

Since its inception in 2008, Ladder Capital has developed a platform that supports both balance-sheet lending and structured securitization.