Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at B. Riley

B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $13.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ladder Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ladder Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Ladder Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Ladder Capital Stock Performance

Ladder Capital stock opened at $10.65 on Monday. Ladder Capital has a fifty-two week low of $9.68 and a fifty-two week high of $11.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 35.60 and a current ratio of 35.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 1.01.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Ladder Capital had a return on equity of 6.70% and a net margin of 19.26%.The company had revenue of $57.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ladder Capital will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ladder Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.6%. Ladder Capital’s payout ratio is 146.03%.

Insider Activity at Ladder Capital

In other news, Director Jeffrey B. Steiner sold 19,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.89, for a total transaction of $212,148.09. Following the sale, the director owned 27,311 shares in the company, valued at $297,416.79. This represents a 41.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ladder Capital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ladder Capital by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Ladder Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Ladder Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ladder Capital by 192.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Ladder Capital by 531.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares during the period. 62.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ladder Capital

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.