Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,737 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Starwood Property Trust were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Starwood Property Trust by 615.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 149,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,139,000 after buying an additional 128,477 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 105,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 45,983 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 126,298 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,091,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,447,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STWD opened at $19.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80.

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

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 138.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of 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. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.07.

About Starwood Property Trust

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.