Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Redwood Trust were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 65.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the second quarter worth $69,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the first quarter worth $72,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the third quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Redwood Trust during the second quarter valued at $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Redwood Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE RWT opened at $7.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 50.47, a quick ratio of 50.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.75. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.45 and a 12 month high of $8.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.98. The stock has a market cap of $955.26 million, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.59.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.41%. This is a boost from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 123.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RWT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.19.

Redwood Trust Company Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.