Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 120,949 Shares of Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 10.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 999,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 120,949 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $18,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in STWD. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Starwood Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 233.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 180,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after purchasing an additional 126,298 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Starwood Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $403,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 205,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,314,000 after buying an additional 15,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 62,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the period. 49.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STWD. Raymond James decreased their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $20.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.79.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Starwood Property Trust stock opened at $20.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.70. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.07 and a 52-week high of $22.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. Starwood Property Trust had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The company had revenue of $489.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $505.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Starwood Property Trust, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 138.13%.

Starwood Property Trust Company 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.