Verition Fund Management LLC Buys New Shares in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Redwood Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Redwood Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $722,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 21.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 976,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,336,000 after buying an additional 174,317 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 549.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 128,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 108,669 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 291,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,254,000 after acquiring an additional 79,094 shares during the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of RWT opened at $7.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $938.46 million, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.57. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a current ratio of 44.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.28 and a 200 day moving average of $7.16.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.15%. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is 123.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RWT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Redwood Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.03.

Redwood Trust 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.